NOAA climate scientists say most of their models are now suggesting that La Nina conditions in the equatorial Pacific will continue through next April. ...more

At last month's annual rendezvous of salmon recovery researchers in Portland sponsored by the Corps of Engineers, the take-home message was clear--the benefits from modifying dam passage for fish was small potatoes compared to the huge vagaries they encounter in the ocean. ...more

The Corps of Engineers' attempt to re-engineer breeding grounds for salmon-munching birds in the Columbia River estuary has been a partial success, according to Oregon State University researcher Dan Robey. ...more

NOAA Fisheries said it will go along with an independent science panel's recommendation to spill more water and barge fewer fish next year, even though it will likely kill more of them in the long run. ...more

Fish and wildlife commissioners from Oregon and Washington will soon decide how to split up next spring's chinook catch on the Columbia River between sport and commercial fishers. ...more

Ten of the first 11 new projects that have been developed from the Fish Accord process need more work before their scientific merit can be judged, according the a Dec. 12 memo from the Independent Scientific Review Panel, the group that reviews project for the BPA-funded fish and wildlife program. ...more

The Bureau of Reclamation has decided that an ambitious proposal to pump water from the Columbia River into a massive new storage project in the Yakima watershed called Black Rock Reservoir would be a black hole for federal dollars. ...more