Draft Report Pegs BPA’s 2019 Fish/Wildlife Costs At $788 Million, $17 Billion Since 1981; 25 Percent Of Wholesale Power Rate
March 19th, 2020
Direct expenses in fiscal year 2019 by the Bonneville Power Administration for costs it incurred by funding the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program amounted to $240.4 million, some $19 million lower than its direct expenses in FY 2018, according to a draft report released this week for public review by the Council.
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Corps Seeks Comments On Assessment For Increasing Fall Chinook Production To Mitigate John Day, Dalles Dam Impacts
March 19th, 2020
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, is seeking public comment on the draft Finding of No Significant Impact for The Dalles and John Day Mitigation Program Limited Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment. The program produces and releases hatchery fall chinook as mitigation for impacts to fisheries.
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Final ‘Lower Snake Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report’ Released; ‘Significantly Different Views’
March 19th, 2020
Washington State’s final “Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report,” a compilation of views and information about the dams, was released last week.
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Conservation Groups File Lawsuit To Halt Corps’ Willamette Basin Water Allocation Study, Says Could Harm Chinook, Steelhead
March 12th, 2020
Conservation groups filed suit in federal court Thursday to stop a process by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allocate the water in its Willamette River basin reservoirs among irrigators, cities and fish, saying such an order is necessary to protect imperiled spring chinook salmon and winter steelhead.
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EPA Challenges Appeals Court Ruling On Setting Temperature Limits For Columbia/Snake Rivers, Wants Re-Hearing
March 5th, 2020
Both a U.S. District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have recently ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must set temperature limits for the Columbia and Snake rivers to protect salmon and steelhead, but the agency is returning to the Appeals Court to challenge the latest decision.
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Parties React: Draft EIS Says Breaching Lower Snake Dams Highest Benefit For Fish, But High Adverse Impacts To Other Resources
March 5th, 2020
Breaching all four lower Snake River dams – Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams – would result in the highest benefits for Snake River salmon and steelhead listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, according to an assessment by federal dam operating agencies released last week.
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Federal Agencies Release Draft EIS For Columbia/Snake River Dams; Rejects Breaching Lower Snake Dams
February 28th, 2020
Dam operating agencies released for public review this morning a long-awaited draft environmental impact statement that describes the impacts of 14 federal Columbia and Snake river dams on salmon, steelhead and lamprey.
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Concerned About Earthquakes, Corps Calls For Less Fill In Reservoirs Behind Two Willamette Valley Dams
February 27th, 2020
Reservoir fill operations will change this spring for two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams on the Middle Fork Willamette River. Worried that a catastrophic earthquake, such as an anticipated Cascadia Subduction Zone quake, could damage the dams, the agency says it will not allow Hills Creek and Lookout Point dams reservoirs to fully fill.
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Diverse Group Calls For Northwest Governors To ‘Foster New Dialogue’ On Columbia Basin Salmon Recovery
February 26th, 2020
A diverse group of river users, utilities and environmentalists is calling on Northwest governors to lead the way to find collaborative solutions to recover Columbia/Snake River Basin salmon and steelhead populations listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.