Oregon Governor Expresses Support For Lower Snake Dam Removal; Must Mitigate ‘Potential Harm To Vital Sectors’
February 18th, 2020
“The science is clear that removing the earthen portions of the four lower Snake River dams is the most certain and robust solution to Snake River salmon and steelhead recovery,” said Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in a letter last week to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
Read the Full Article
NOAA Proposing To Approve Rebuilding Plans For Overfished Klamath/Sacramento Rivers Fall Chinook, Emphasis On Harvest Rates
February 13th, 2020
NOAA Fisheries is proposing to approve and implement fishery management plans for two overfished stocks of chinook salmon – Klamath River fall-run chinook and Sacramento fall-run chinook. The stocks are large contributors to ocean salmon fisheries off the California and Oregon coasts.
Read the Full Article
WDFW Issues Justification For Steelhead Farming Permit In Puget Sound, Comments Expressed Concerns
February 6th, 2020
When the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife approved in late January a new permit allowing Cooke Aquaculture to begin growing rainbow trout/steelhead in its Puget Sound net pens, there were a number of groups and tribes that had already lined up in opposition to the permit. And one group may seek legal action to stop it.
Read the Full Article
ODFW Stock Assessment Shows Juvenile Abundance For White Sturgeon In Lower Columbia Lagging
February 6th, 2020
Abundance of sub-adult and adult white sturgeon in the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam took a jump this year, but abundance of juvenile sized and one-year-old or younger white sturgeon is lagging, which is indicative of an extended period of low productivity, according to a report by biologists that will be given at the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting Feb. 7.
Read the Full Article
Basin Water Supply Outlook Improves With Dalles Dam Runoff Forecast Rising To 106 Percent Of Normal
February 6th, 2020
January was a wet month in much of the Columbia River basin with higher than average rain and snowfall, yet cumulative precipitation for the current water year that began Oct. 1, 2019 is lower than the 30 year average. That likely won’t improve much over the next 6 to 10 days as meteorologists at NOAA’s Northwest River Forecast Center are predicting below normal temperatures and normal precipitation.
Read the Full Article
EPA Gets 30-Day Extension For Responding To Appeals Court Ruling Ordering Temperature Limits For Columbia/Snake Rivers
January 30th, 2020
The federal Environmental Protection Agency received a 30 day extension from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to develop Columbia and Snake river temperature limits, known as Total Maximum Daily Load, but the EPA is still not saying what it will do at the end of the 30 days.
Read the Full Article
USFWS Updated Biological Opinion For Columbia River Basin Bull Trout Set For Completion In June; Will Look At Dams’ Impacts
January 30th, 2020
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s biological opinion for Columbia River basin bull trout, listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in November 1999, was first completed in the year 2000. Some 16 years later a lawsuit was filed to reinitiate consultation with dam operating agencies and 20 years later the Service is now nearing the final update of a new bull trout BiOp, which also includes Kootenai River white sturgeon.
Read the Full Article
Idaho Power Intervenes, Files To Dismiss Hells Canyon Water Quality Lawsuit
January 9th, 2020
Idaho Power filed a petition in December in Multnomah County that asks the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed in July 2019 by Pacific Rivers and Idaho Rivers United that had challenged the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s water quality certification for the utility’s Hells Canyon Complex of Dams – Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon dams.
Read the Full Article
Vernita Bar Agreement Provides Flow Protections For Spawning Wild Fall Chinook In Hanford Reach; This Season’s 7,733 Redds Within 10-Year Range
January 9th, 2020
Every fall Columbia River dam operators manage river flows through Hanford Reach to provide minimum flow protections for wild fall chinook salmon nests, also known as redds, at Vernita Bar.