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
Water Supply/ Precipitation Forecasts Heading Upward, Dalles Dam April-August Pegged At 99 Percent Of Normal
January 9th, 2020
Although precipitation totals to this point in the winter has been dismal, water supply forecasts at the Columbia River basin’s major dams are all in the 90 percent range or better, with the exception of the North Fork Clearwater River basin upstream of Dworshak Dam.
Read the Full Article
Washington State Adopts Rule To Increase Spill For Juvenile Fish Migrants At Columbia/Snake River Dams; Higher Gas Levels
January 3rd, 2020
Washington state this week changed its water quality standards by raising the amount of total dissolved gas it will allow at Columbia and Snake river dams during juvenile salmon and steelhead migrations, paving the way for higher spill levels this spring.
Read the Full Article
‘The Time Has Come’: Ninth Circuit Orders EPA To Produce In 30 Days New Temperature Limits For Columbia/Snake Rivers To Protect Salmon/Steelhead
December 20th, 2019
Is it the obligation of the states of Oregon and Washington? Or is the Environmental Protection Agency responsible for completing Total Maximum Daily Load limits for temperature to protect salmon and steelhead in the Snake and Columbia rivers?
Read the Full Article
‘Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report’ Released For Public Comment; Differing Views Represented
December 20th, 2019
Washington State’s draft “Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report,” a compilation of views and information about the dams, has been released for public comment.
Read the Full Article
Concerns About Columbia River Treaty Negotiations Aired At Tri-Cities Town Hall; Utilities Want Reduced ‘Canadian Entitlement’
December 18th, 2019
Columbia River Treaty negotiations are taking too long, are not transparent enough and the region’s utilities are worried that a last minute deal will cost them more money, according to comments heard at a Treaty Town Hall meeting in Richland this week.
Read the Full Article
With Northwest Water Supply Improving, River Managers Set Date For Flows To Protect Chum Salmon Nests Below Bonneville Dam
December 18th, 2019
Spawning of threatened Lower Columbia River chum salmon in the Ives/Pierce Island area downstream of Bonneville Dam area on the Columbia River’s north shore is nearing an end, prompting the interagency Technical Management Team this week to set a date to transition to incubation flows designed to protect the chum nests, or redds.
Read the Full Article
River Operations In Review: Altered Spill At Little Goose Dam Necessary To Move Adult Spring Chinook? Tradeoff With Juvenile Passage
December 13th, 2019
The upstream migration of adult spring chinook salmon in the Snake River slows down in the Lower Monumental Dam to Little Goose Dam reach more than in other reaches in the Snake River.
Read the Full Article
River Operations In Review: Spill For Migrating Juvenile Salmon/Steelhead Increases In 2020, Challenge Managing To Gas Cap
December 13th, 2019
The gas cap for spill for salmon and steelhead will rise in 2020 from 120 percent total dissolved gas that was required by an agreement this year to 125 percent, resulting in far more spill for migrating juvenile fish at most federal Columbia and lower Snake River dams.