The water supply picture for the Columbia Basin has continued to deteriorate going into the summer, with some new wrinkles.
A huge mass of unusually warm water that scientists have dubbed “The Blob” has lurked off the West Coast for much of the past two years and speculation is growing that it may be connected in some way with the drought plaguing West Coast states.
While streamflows throughout the Columbia Basin are presenting troubles for fish and human water users, there is a bright spot in the Yakima River Basin, where ongoing efforts to address water supply issues have paid off with a rapid response to maintain tributary flows.
About 380 Eastern Washington water users are being asked to curtail irrigation due to early and extremely low stream flows caused by drought.
The California Fish and Game Commission recently adopted emergency regulations that grant the California Department of Fish and Wildlife authority to temporarily close fisheries experiencing degraded environmental conditions that may affect fish populations.
A draft rule would help Washington deal with water shortages by encouraging local jurisdictions to reuse or reclaim water.
Elevated water temperatures are most likely the cause of spring chinook salmon deaths in the Willamette River and some of its tributaries, according to fish biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Despite recent rains in the Columbia Basin, it hasn’t been enough to alter forecasts for low river flows between now and September.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to conduct an extended navigation lock outage beginning December 12, 2016, Corps officials from Walla Walla and Portland districts announced this week during a regional navigation meeting held at the Port of Morrow SAGE Center in Boardman, Oregon.
Flow augmentation for Kootenai River white sturgeon got underway today, Friday, May 22, at Libby Dam after U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water managers, along with federal, tribal, and state fishery biologists, have determined that water temperatures and flows are sufficient for the operations to begin.
Plaintiffs in ongoing litigation over dredging to maintain navigation operations in the Lower Snake River corridor are continuing to press their claims that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have failed to comply with federal law.
The most recent water supply reports for the Columbia River Basin showed a continuing trend of deteriorating conditions due to warmer-than-average temperatures, below-average precipitation through much of the basin and a rapid, early runoff from mountain snowpack across the region.
Two requests to change management of the Kootenai River, the third largest tributary of the Columbia River, received a cool reception from fisheries managers at this week’s Technical Management Team meeting, and one of those, a request to deviate from VARQ on the river was denied.
Pieces of the puzzle are taking shape, and it appears likely that Montana reservoirs will be drawn down significantly to meet multiple needs in the Columbia Basin.
Commercial salmon fisheries off most of California will open today, though seasons for both commercial and sport fisheries will be shorter in several areas this year.
Below-average snowpack in the Clearwater sub-basin and uncertain inflows from future weather conditions add up to an earlier-than-normal fill planned for Dworshak Reservoir, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water-management officials.
Intending to help young fish pass the dams safely to the ocean, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun implementing its Columbia River Basin 2015 Spring Fish Operations Plan.
An April 9 water supply report issued by the Northwest River Forecast Center paints a picture of varying precipitation across the Columbia Basin, combined with higher than normal temperatures that are resulting in a rapid, early runoff from mountain snowpack across the region.
With a drought on the horizon, the Washington Department of Ecology is looking to lease water from irrigators to keep streams from going dry in the upper Yakima River Basin.
Following the lowest snowpack ever recorded and with no end to the drought in sight, California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. this week announced sweeping actions intended to save water, increase enforcement to prevent wasteful water use, streamline the state's drought response and invest in new technologies that will make California more drought resilient.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers alerts boaters and other users of Foster Reservoir near Sweet Home, Ore., that the reservoir’s normal spring refill schedule has changed again this year to accommodate ongoing fish passage research. The reservoir’s summer elevation will also be slightly lower again this summer.
A long February dry spell across much of the Columbia River basin helped to draw down forecasts of how much snowpack will be available in spring and summer to feed the vast river system that needs the water for fish, power at dams, irrigation of crops and many other uses.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday that maintenance dredging of problem areas in the federal navigation channel, and at two port berthing areas, has been completed in the Snake and Clearwater rivers.
The Cascade Mountains that stretch north and south through Oregon and Washington have been in relatively drier straits this winter through early February but most of the rest of the Columbia River basin is at or near normal in terms of snow-water accumulations that fill streams for fish, irrigators, power producers and others during the spring and summer seasons.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have disapproved the state of Oregon’s coastal nonpoint pollution control program because it does not sufficiently protect salmon streams and landslide-prone areas from logging impacts or reduce runoff from forest roads built before 1971.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
