Research Shows Snake River Sockeye Are Speedsters In Ocean Swimming Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

Sockeye salmon are known to be hell-bent during their spawning journey up the Columbia and Snake rivers. And that rapid pace is apparently true for the young fish when they leave freshwater for their ocean sojourn. Read More...

Snake River Fall Chinook Return Approaching Record Numbers Since 1975 Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

An unexpectedly strong return of upriver bright chinook this year has allowed the opening of a fall chinook salmon sport fishery on the lower Snake River for the first time in 20 years. Read More...

Plaintiffs File BiOp Motions For Summary Judgment; Feds To Respond Oct. 24 Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

The new federal plan to protect salmon and steelhead migrating through the Columbia/Snake river hydro system employs a "newly lowered bar" that fails to properly assess, in scientific or legal terms, the listed species' chances of recovery, according to motions for summary judgment filed in U.S. District Court Sept. 19 by a coalition of fishing and conservation groups and the state of Oregon. Read More...

Middle Columbia River Steelhead Recovery Plan Released For Public Comment Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

NOAA's Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with protecting salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act, is now seeking public comment on a proposed recovery plan for threatened steelhead in the middle Columbia River. Read More...

Washington Issues Final Decisions For Releasing More Lake Roosevelt Water Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

The Washington Department of Ecology on Thursday issued final decisions that pave the way for more water to be made available to cities and industry along the Columbia River and replace groundwater currently pumped from the Odessa Subarea aquifer. Read More...

Funding Remains Uncertain For Long-Running John Day Basin Habitat Restoration Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

Funding for a long-running habitat restoration project in Oregon's John Day River basin is on the ropes following a split vote last week by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Read More...

State Distributing $46 Million To Develop More Water Supply For Eastern Washington Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

The Washington Department of Ecology is funding more than $46 million in projects designed to develop additional water supplies throughout eastern Washington. Read More...

NW Senators Introduce Bill to Protect, Restore Wild Salmon Strongholds Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, and Gordon Smith, R-OR, introduced legislation this week to establish a federal program to support the protection and restoration of a network of the healthiest remaining wild Pacific salmon ecosystems in North America, the so-called “Salmon Strongholds.” Read More...

BPA Restarts Residential Exchange Program In Response To Ninth Court Rulings Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

The Bonneville Power Administration this week responded to three 2007 Ninth Circuit court rulings with a decision that will lower its wholesale power rates by 1 percent for fiscal year 2009, return an additional quarter of a billion dollars in past overcharges to the region's consumer-owned utilities in 2009, return additional overpayments in future years, and re-establish Residential Exchange Program benefits to most of the region's investor-owned utilities. Read More...

CBB Shorts: Posted on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 (PST)

CBB Shorts: Washington's Office Of Columbia River; NOAA Administrator Resigns; UW Prof Gets MacArthur Grant --- Ecology's New Office of Columbia River Pursues New Water For Basin Read More...