The Washington Department of Ecology is hosting a public meeting March 17 to discuss how it will implement a long-awaited Total Maximum Daily Load plan for temperature in the Columbia and lower Snake rivers. The two rivers are included in Washington’s 303(d) list of impaired bodies of water due to their persistent high water temperatures that pose a threat to salmon and steelhead. The fish rely on the rivers for migration and spawning and some of the populations are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. The temperature TMDL had been developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by court…
