Due to a drier and warmer than normal April, the water supply forecasts for May-September for the Columbia and Snake river basins have dropped, according to NOAA’s Northwest River Forecast Center’s last water supply briefing of the season held online this month.
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Spring Runoff Older Than You Think: Hydrologists Show Mountain Streamflow Old Snowmelt On Years-Long Underground Journey
May 14th, 2025
Growing communities and extensive agriculture throughout the Western United States rely on meltwater that spills out of snow-capped mountains every spring. The models for predicting the amount of this streamflow available each year have long assumed that a small fraction of snowmelt each year enters shallow soil, with the remainder rapidly exiting in rivers and creeks.
Columbia River Harvest Managers Confirm Spring Chinook Return On Track, Approve 14 More Fishing Days
May 14th, 2025
Columbia River fisheries forecasters confirmed Monday that their preseason run size forecast for upriver spring Chinook salmon was likely to be accurate, allowing Oregon and Washington to reopen recreational angling in the river between Tongue Point, near Astoria, OR, and the two-state line, near Pasco, WA.
EVs, Chip Factories, Data Centers, Growth Leading To Doubling Of Electricity Needs In Northwest By 2046
May 14th, 2025
Northwest states have been consuming about 22,000 average megawatts of electricity per year, but the Northwest Power and Conservation Council is forecasting double that amount by 2046 to as much as 44,000 aMW, according to a just-completed initial forecast of Northwest energy demand.
For First Time, California Releases Millions Of Juvenile Fall Chinook Into Mainstem Sacramento River, Timed With Water Flow Increases
May 14th, 2025
In a significant shift of California’s salmon strategy, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has begun releasing juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon from CDFW-operated hatcheries into the main stem of the Sacramento River for the first time.
Federal Agencies Extend Comment Period On Columbia/Snake Hydro System Supplemental EIS
May 14th, 2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation are extending the public comment period for the Columbia River System Operations Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to August 15, 2025.
Trump Administration Budget Proposes Eliminating Marine Mammal Commission, Staff On Oct. 1
May 14th, 2025
The Trump administration’s proposed budget released would cut all funding for the Marine Mammal Commission, a federal agency dedicated to the protection of marine mammals.