EPA says that in addition to protecting and restoring 12 primary cold water refuge tributaries to the Columbia River, more cold water from the Umatilla River is needed to provide sufficient cool-water resting spots for migrating adult salmon and steelhead in the lower Columbia River.
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Despite population declines over the past five years, the overall status of the 13 runs of Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act has "probably not changed in most cases," a NOAA Fisheries scientist told the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Jan. 13. Read More
Washington state must complete plans to control polluted runoff from septic systems, agriculture, logging and other nonpoint sources after a federal judge signed off on a legal settlement over the issue Jan. 8. Read More
A group of homeowners in Northern California and southern Oregon have filed a lawsuit alleging that the Slater Fire was the result of PacifiCorp failing to maintain its transmission and distribution lines and to de-energize its system as conditions worsened. Read More
Puget Sound-area journalist and Clearing Up columnist Bill Virgin died Dec. 15, at age 64. Read More
On Jan. 13, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council reelected Richard Devlin, an Oregon member, as chairman, and Bo Downen, a Montana member, as vice chairman for 2021. Guy Norman, a Washington member, stepped down as chairman of the Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee, but remains on… Read More
A new year is a useful time to take stock and look to the past as well as the future. We presented our top-five 2020 stories last week, and here we offer some key regional energy issues/themes we expect to follow in 2021. Although this list is neither exhaustive nor ranked, we hope you find … Read More
Puget Sound Energy's draft 2021 integrated resource plan has some eye-popping numbers in its myriad projections: nearly 1 million electric vehicles; 4,462 MW of renewable resources; 750 MW of battery storage. Read More
An atmospheric river that caught forecasters off guard swept across the Pacific Northwest starting late on Jan. 12, leaving landslides, flooding, snapped trees, downed power lines, and extensive outages in its wake. Read More
A state energy regulator discussed penalties for nonperforming resources in California wholesale energy markets in the wake of an updated report showing significant gaps between scheduled and performing power supply during the August 2020 blackouts. Read More
EPA says that in addition to protecting and restoring 12 primary cold water refuge tributaries to the Columbia River, more cold water from the Umatilla River is needed to provide sufficient cool-water resting spots for migrating adult salmon and steelhead in the lower Columbia River. Read More
Surplus summer Chinook salmon that traveled more than 500 river miles up the Columbia River to Wells Hatchery have continued migration after being trucked upstream and released in several locations above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservatio… Read More
The $1.9-trillion pandemic relief proposal rolled out Jan. 14 by President-elect Joe Biden includes $5 billion to cover home energy and water costs and bill arrears for renters. Meanwhile, EPA finalized a rule that in effect exempts industrial sectors other than electric power generation fro… Read More