Seattle is getting an $11 million refund from the federal government following FERC's reversal in a dispute over land use fees related to the city's Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. Read More
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Climate change has likely resulted in diminishing snowmelt even during years of average snowpack, with long-range implications for Western water supplies, Arizona's top water official told a Senate hearing Oct. 6. Read More
Hydroelectric generation is forecast to fall by 14 percent in 2021, the result of persistent drought, the Energy Information Administration said Sept. 23. Read More
Oakland-based CalWave announced Oct. 19 it had successfully deployed its x1 wave-energy platform offshore of San Diego for more than a month on its first at-sea, long-duration wave-energy pilot, operating fully submerged. Read More
The Columbia Basin Collaborative will hold its first meeting Nov. 30, when representatives on the integration-recommendations group will conduct a day-long virtual session. The newly formed group involves state, federal, tribal and stakeholder representation seeking to help develop a plan fo… Read More
BPA will gain an additional $10 billion of borrowing authority, increasing it from $7.7 billion to $17.7 billion, under provisions of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill Congress passed Nov. 5 and President Joe Biden signed Nov. 15. Read More
Parties in a legal battle over the operation of federal dams in the Columbia Basin agreed to put the litigation on hold for nine months, and on Oct. 26, U.S. District Judge Michael Simon granted their request. Read More
A new process to determine whether there are reasonable ways to replace the four lower Snake River dams was announced Oct. 22 in a joint statement by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. Read More
Preliminary estimates of survival of wild juvenile salmon and steelhead from the Snake River were so low this year that despite a high degree of uncertainty in the estimates, fish managers should be talking about potential causes of the mortality, NOAA Fisheries representative Claire McGrath… Read More
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Cowlitz Indian Tribe and three environmental groups filed requests to intervene in a FERC decision that will determine if PacifiCorp and Cowlitz County PUD are entitled to a "trial-type" hearing over the actions of federal agencies likely to re… Read More
Federal defendants are appealing several U.S. District Court rulings from a lawsuit that resulted in new spill, deep drawdowns and the potential to use water from power pools at hydroelectric dams during critical winter months in order to protect fish in the Willamette Valley Project. Read More
Three impacted First Nations in northwestern British Columbia and the regional district of Bulkley-Nechako are joining together in a bid to restore the health of the massive Nechako River and to return its flows to more historical levels. Read More
PacifiCorp is eyeing 6,600 MW of pumped storage projects in Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, according to preliminary permits filed with FERC on Oct. 14 that would allow it to evaluate the feasibility of 11 projects. Read More