EPA has issued pollution permits for the four lower Snake River dams that for the first time include a requirement to adhere to temperature standards, as mandated by the Washington Department of Ecology's water quality certification. Read more
EPA is proposing to add Bradford Island, located within the Bonneville Dam complex, to its National Priorities List for clean up of toxic chemicals. Also known as Superfund sites, the list includes the nation's most serious contamination problems, making them eligible to receive federal fund… Read more
As steelhead returns to Bonneville Dam begin to taper off, fish agencies continue to examine this year's drastically low returns. Read more
The Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected a request from fish managers to scale back the use of zero nighttime flow operations at lower Snake River dams to three months, instead of the four-and-a-half months now allowed under the 2020 Columbia River Sy… Read more
Seattle City Light has an additional $2.5 million to support ESA-listed fish in the Skagit River following a unanimous vote by the Seattle City Council on Sept. 20 to create the fund. Read more
As soon as the heat dome descended on the Pacific Northwest in late June, fish agencies knew this would not be a good year for sockeye. Read more
Average returns of adult Pacific lamprey to the Yakima Basin are 36 times higher than they were prior to 2012, when the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation began trapping the ancient fish in the lower Columbia River and hauling them upstream to spawn. Between 45 and 90 times a… Read more
A deep drawdown at the Willamette Valley Project's Cougar Reservoir and new spill operations at Foster Dam are scheduled to commence this fall after U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez on Sept. 1 issued a final order in Northwest Environmental Defense Center et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engi… Read more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denied a motion by PacifiCorp and Cowlitz County PUD for an emergency stay of all remaining fish-passage requirements at four Lewis River hydroelectric projects. Read more
NOAA Fisheries has approved a plan limiting nontribal fishing for Chinook salmon off the West Coast in years when their numbers are forecasted to be below 966,000 fish. Read more
A U.S. District Court Judge in Oregon dismissed Public Power Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, noting his ruling in another case made the issue PPC raised moot. Read more
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon granted a joint motion Sept. 10 that delays the deadlines for several filings by 30 days in National Wildlife Federation et al. v. National Marine Fisheries Service et al. The plaintiffs—10 environmental groups—were joined by federal defendants and interveno… Read more
