EPA’s TMDL Document Aimed At Keeping Water Temps Healthy For Columbia/Snake Salmon Draws Far-Ranging Comments, Criticisms
September 18th, 2020
Most of those who commented on the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Total Maximum Daily Load” document intended to set temperature limits in the Columbia and Snake Rivers to protect salmon and steelhead called for further changes to the TMDL.
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Snake River Sockeye Nears End Of Run At 68 Percent Of Average, Fall Chinook Passage Gaining Steam; Cool Down In Lower Snake
August 27th, 2020
With just one to two endangered Snake River sockeye salmon passing Lower Granite Dam daily, the end of the run seems nearly complete.
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Federal Judge Rules Corps Not Moving Fast Enough To Halt Continued Decline Of ESA-Listed Upper Willamette River Wild Spring Chinook/Steelhead; “Significant Measures Never Carried Out’
August 19th, 2020
A U.S. District Court ruling this week charged a federal agency with not moving fast enough to ensure survival and recovery of Upper Willamette River wild spring chinook and wild winter steelhead, two species listed as threatened in 1999 under the federal Endangered Species Act.
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For Second Time, Columbia/Snake River Fisheries Managers Reject Raising Lower Granite Pool To Aid Grain Shipments
August 19th, 2020
For the second consecutive week, fisheries managers at the multi-agency Technical Management Team denied the Port of Clarkston a request to raise the Lower Granite Dam reservoir one and a half feet above the normal minimum operating pool (MOP +2) to provide more depth for barges loading grain at the port’s docks.
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Lamprey Fish Passage Efficiency At Each Columbia/Snake Dam Very Low: Nearly Half Lost (Not Counted) At Each Dam From Bonneville Dam To McNary
August 14th, 2020
A variety of changes at Columbia and Snake river dams to boost passage of Pacific lamprey is resulting in incremental improvements, according to a presentation this week at a Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting.
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River Managers Reject Request To Raise Lower Granite Pool To Aid Barge Loading At Clarkston Port; Concerns About Temperature Impacts To Salmon
August 13th, 2020
With wheat harvest in full swing, the Lewis-Clark Terminal on the lower Snake River at the Port of Clarkston is having difficulties loading barges due to shallow water as the result of sediment buildup at the facilities. On Wednesday, the port requested that river operators raise the Lower Granite Dam reservoir up to a foot-and-a- half more to provide some more wiggle room for loading.
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New Federal EIS, BiOp For Columbia/Snake Hydro System Distinct From Recovery Plans; Broader Regional Actions Needed To De-List Salmon, Steelhead
August 6th, 2020
Tucked into the Columbia River System Operators’ final environmental impact statement for the Columbia River power system’s impacts on salmon and steelhead that was released late last week is a more than 1,600 page biological opinion from NOAA Fisheries.
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Endangered Snake River Sockeye Arriving At Idaho’s Sawtooth Basin, Numbers Better Than Last Year’s Dismal Return
August 6th, 2020
The first two sockeye salmon completed their 900 mile journey through eight Columbia and Snake river dams and up the Salmon River, climbing 6,500 feet in elevation and arriving in Idaho’s Sawtooth Basin over the weekend.
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Modernizing Columbia River Treaty: B.C. Report On Community Meetings Says This Time Basin Residents, Indigenous Nations Will Be ‘Meaningfully Consulted’
August 6th, 2020
A British Columbia Province Report on recent Columbia River Treaty community meetings notes “there was a lack of consultation with Basin residents and Indigenous Nations when the Treaty was first negotiated, and feelings of hurt and anger remain to this day.”