Senior members of the Biden administration and Republican members of Congress painted vastly divergent pictures Tuesday of the agreement that could pause litigation over Snake River dams and salmon for the next decade.
Commitments to restore Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead populations made by the federal government and “six sovereigns” will intersect or overlap with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s responsibilities under the Northwest Power Act, according to a presentation at last week’s Council meeting.
The Biden Administration, Columbia River treaty tribes and the states of Oregon and Washington agreed Thursday to work to restore wild salmon populations in the Columbia and Snake river basins and to delay ongoing litigation for five years, with an option for the delay to go as long as 10 years.
More than 17,000 adult coho salmon and nearly 5,000 wild spring Chinook salmon returned to Portland General Electric’s North Fork Dam on the Clackamas River this fall, according to the utility.
A draft agreement mediated by the Biden Administration outlining investments in Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead recovery that was to remain confidential until mid-December was leaked early this week by Washington and Oregon members of Congress.
More than 93% of young Chinook safely passed Rocky Reach Hydroelectric Project last spring, says Chelan PUD. The results represent the most successful survival study of yearling Chinook in the 21-year history of the Rocky Reach Habitat Conservation Plan.
The Bonneville Power Administration says it ended fiscal year 2023 on solid financial footing, exceeding expectations of previous quarterly forecasts that indicated the agency would miss net revenues and expense targets. The agency’s annual report describes how the agency bounced back in the fourth quarter, offsetting cost pressures primarily from the 13th driest year on record.
The public was split at a listening session this week on whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should deauthorize hydroelectric turbines at its projects on the Willamette River, according to a small number of people who testified at the first of the Corps’ three listening sessions this week.
Parties to the lawsuit challenging the federal government’s 2020 environmental impact statement and biological opinion for imperiled salmon and steelhead traversing Columbia/Snake River federal dams have developed a package of “actions and commitments” that they will present to regional partners to get buy-in over the next 45 days.
The Portland District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will gather the public’s perspective and opinions on the future of hydropower across the Corps’ Willamette Valley system of dams during three listening sessions – one in-person and two virtual.
A claim for $27.6 million in damages was filed in a Douglas County Circuit Court in Oregon claiming that more than half a million juvenile Pacific lamprey died in August during repairs to Winchester Dam, located on Oregon’s North Umpqua River.
A new report from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory shows that along a 200-mile stretch of ocean off the coast of southern Oregon and northern California, floating wind farms could potentially triple the Pacific Northwest’s wind power capacity while offsetting potentially billions of dollars in costs for utilities, ratepayers, insurance companies, and others across the West who bear the cost of climate change’s effects.
On Oct. 3, the Bonneville Power Administration made its annual payment to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for the 40th consecutive year on time and in full, bringing cumulative payments to approximately $34.6 billion over this period. The total payment for fiscal year 2023 was $1.02 billion.
Pacific lamprey are returning to the Columbia and Snake rivers this year in record numbers, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Nez Perce Tribe.
In a presidential memorandum released Wednesday, the Biden Administration emphasized salmon and steelhead restoration in the Columbia and Snake river basins and called for an all-hands-on-deck approach to recovery of the fish.
The Yurok Tribe and the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), in collaboration with the Shasta Indian Nation, started preparing a stretch of the Klamath River to flow freely for the first time in a century.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has recently released two reports -- one a report on fish and wildlife expenses incurred by the Bonneville Power Administration in the Columbia/Snake river basins and, more recently, a second report that will be sent to Congress that is currently out for public review until Dec. 12. Both reports are for fiscal year 2022.
The Biden administration this week announced that the Bonneville Power Administration will provide three Upper Columbia River Tribes $200 million over 20 years for ongoing efforts to reintroduce salmon above Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams, which have blocked fish migration since 1942. The Tribes have agreed to a twenty-year pause to existing litigation while these actions are pursued.
A long-running annual report that evaluates salmon and steelhead survival in the Columbia and Snake rivers again this year concluded that removal of the lower Snake River dams poses less of a risk to recovery than allowing the four dams to remain in place.
By legislative requirement, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland District is assessing whether it should continue to produce hydroelectric power at its Willamette Valley project dams.
NOAA Fisheries is asking for comments on its existing plan that allows for take of hatchery and listed wild Snake River sockeye to help in the recovery of the fish, listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Comments are due September 7.
The effects of a dry, cold winter and higher-than-expected supplemental power purchase expenses continue to weigh on the Bonneville Power Administration’s finances three-quarters of the way through the fiscal year. Agency net revenue is now forecast to be negative $382 million, which is $56 million below this year’s performance target.
This year’s Columbia River sockeye salmon passage is mostly over at Bonneville Dam. Mid-Columbia River sockeye are now moving into tributaries and lakes, while the endangered Snake River sockeye are migrating towards the Stanley Basin in central Idaho, according to Jonathan Ebel of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
The next step in Oregon State University’s construction of a wave energy testing facility off the Oregon Coast is visible to residents and visitors to the area this month.
Four conservation groups notified the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that they intend to sue the agency over the heat pollution created by the four lower Snake River dams. The groups allege the dams overheat the river’s water and those conditions are killing or injuring Snake River sockeye salmon listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.
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