Federal, state and tribal managers are mulling their options this week, saying a proposed lopping of Columbia Basin fish and wildlife project funding is inequitable and that certain steps could and should be taken to avoid the cutbacks.
Under pressure to reduce the amount of water needed for chum operations, Technical Management Team fisheries managers may decide this afternoon to de-water a small portion of chum redds downstream from Bonneville Dam.
Saying it doesn't have enough information to judge the task at hand, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council this week delayed a decision about how it would pare back its fish and wildlife program to fit under a $139 million cap.
Supporters and opponents of proposed revisions to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's mainstem fish and wildlife program both claimed Tuesday to have law, science and the best interests of the region on their side
After determining in an earlier court decision that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must comply with the Clean Water Act when operating its lower Snake River dams, not just the Endangered Species Act, U.S. District Court Judge Helen Frye ruled in Portland last week that the Corps' operations do meet state water quality standards.
With a poor water year looming, the Columbia River dam operators said they will evaluate several alternatives to determine how much water can be used this year to keep Columbia River chum redds covered with water below Bonneville Dam.
The newly elected 108th Congress convened this week, with a Republican majority in both the House and Senate choosing a leadership team closely in tune with the Bush administration's environmental agenda.
Tough choices are ahead for the Northwest Power Planning Council which on Thursday agreed to lead a process to cut, defer or reduce the scope of some $40 million worth of fish and wildlife work that the panel had earlier recommended, or was expected to recommend, for funding.
The Northwest Power Planning Council on Thursday moved an experimental lower Columbia River selective spring chinook harvest proposal to the front of the funding line so the project can be implemented in February.
A review of the available science surrounding salmon survival and the impacts of hydropower resources as well as municipal and irrigation water diversions in the Columbia River Basin in Washington begins in February.
The National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council appointed 13 scientists to complete the review and report their findings to the Washington Department of Ecology.
A tidal wave of invoices expected during fiscal year 2003 has the potential to push spending in the Northwest Power Planning Council's fish and wildlife program some $41 million, at minimum, beyond the $139 million cap set by the program's funding agency, the Bonneville Power Administration.
Those testifying Tuesday evening attempted to pull Northwest Power Planning Council members in opposite directions -- some saying the panel's draft mainstem amendment follows a proper biological and economic course and others saying it ignores both legal and scientific bounds.
A Seattle-based U.S. District Court judge on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting navigation channel dredging on the lower Snake River that was scheduled to begin on Dec. 15.
Both sides in the lawsuit agree that the injunction effectively scuttles dredging for the season.
A federal judge won't decide until next year on a lawsuit by Northwest landowners and development interests seeking to remove four salmon runs from the endangered species list.
Oral arguments in the suit against the U.S. Commerce Department were heard Nov. 25 in federal district court for the District of Columbia.
The Bonneville Power Administration's top official announced today that the agency will not, at least for now, pursue a rate increase as a remedy for a growing budget deficit but instead continue to scour its own activities and the programs it funds for $500 million in cost savings over the next four years.
Two agreements in a single week will set water policy in eastern Washington that will have a profound affect on the use of Columbia River water.
One agreement last week gave four cities the right to withdraw up to 178,000 cubic feet per second of water over the next 50 years and another settlement this week gave Columbia River irrigators the right to pay for water during the critical summer period.
The Northwest Power Planning Council is expected this week to offer its recommendations on how, in the post-2006 era, the Bonneville Power Administration should distribute power generated in the federal hydrosystem.
The face of Oregon's Northwest Power Planning Council delegation is rapidly changing with the state's former Senate president, Republican Gene Derfler, on Nov. 8 taking the seat that has been held by John Brogoitti.
The second of two Oregon spots on the NWPPC will shift from Eric Bloch to Melinda Eden on Jan. 1. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber made the appointments last week.
The potential impacts to Columbia River Basin power generation from proposed changes to mainstem hydro fish operations are quantifiable based on historic averages, though year to year fluctuations in water supply and energy market prices can greatly affect costs and revenues.
A federal judge has denied an injunction request that would have scuttled a planned six-year evaluation of the egg-to-fry survival of kokanee salmon in northern Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille.
The study is intended to further test the findings of an Idaho Department of Fish and Game study indicating that kokanee fry survival is greater when the lake is held at a higher winter level (2,055 feet above sea level) than levels maintained for the most part since the 1970s (2,051).
In an effort to better meet the water needs of a diverse population and, reduce the need for legal battles over the limited water supply, the Washington Department of Ecology on Tuesday formally filed a proposal to develop a new way for managing the waters of the Columbia River.
A draft amendment to the Northwest Power Planning Council fish and wildlife program approved Thursday would break the prescribed Columbia Basin federal hydrosystem operational mold by -- among other measures -- sending more water from upstream reservoirs in winter to generate power and possibly less in spring to augment flows for migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead.
Support for a Montana/Idaho-led plan to alter dam operations that was approved for public comment this week by the Northwest Power Planning Council has been evident during the Bonneville Power Administration's Financial Choices public process this spring and summer.
An eight-month effort to resolve issues through mediation has ended, coincident with a cavalcade of new filings in the lawsuit brought to challenge the federal government's Columbia Basin salmon recovery plan.
Plaintiffs in the case, National Wildlife Federation, et al. v. National Marine Fisheries Service, are asking the court to require NMFS to withdraw its 2000 Federal Columbia River Power System biological opinion and reinitiate consultation on hydrosystem operations.
A Citizens' Forum pledged to consensus building will present a conceptual "White Paper" that supports hatchery supplementation as a tool for rebuilding salmon runs in the Columbia River Basin.
The diverse group, which has been meeting since its organization in February of 2001, was the outgrowth of meetings started in 1999 between staff and policy makers of the Oregon Wheat Growers League and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
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