Hot summertime weather has led to low flows and reservoir levels in the Northwest. Read More
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The final state regulatory review needed to transfer ownership of the four lower Klamath River dams from PacifiCorp to the Klamath River Renewal Corp. came with the Oregon PUC's license transfer approval on July 27, with conditions to keep the commission informed through the transfer process. Read More
The formal nomination of Charles "Chuck" Sams III to be director of the National Park Service was forwarded to the Senate for confirmation on Sept. 13, the White House said, which on Aug. 18 first stated its intent to do so. Sams is an Oregon member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Co… Read More
An active monsoon season drove record amounts of runoff throughout the Salt River Project's watershed in Arizona, but California and most of the West remain in drought conditions despite some recent rain. Read More
Electric utilities and organizations that represent them sent a letter to Oregon Gov. Kate Brown Aug. 11 asking her to withdraw or stay Oregon's July 16 request in federal court for a preliminary injunction to significantly increase spill over eight Snake and Columbia river dams beginning ne… Read More
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown explains the events that led her to direct the state to join plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking the removal of the lower Snake River dams for the benefit of wild salmon and steelhead. In response to the editorial, which originally appeared in the East Oregonian newspape… Read More
As the Colorado River basin region enters its 22nd year of drought, conditions have deteriorated to the point that the federal government declared a shortage on the river for the first time, based on projected 2022 operating conditions for Lake Mead. 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
Plans to install fish passage facilities at three hydroelectric projects on the Lewis River in southwestern Washington could be back on track after initially being tabled by federal agencies that had favored a proposal by PacifiCorp to consider habitat improvements in the upper watershed. Read More
Climate change and hydroelectric dams by far bear the most responsibility for increased water temperature in portions of the Snake and Columbia rivers, according to an EPA analysis released Aug. 16. Read More
Pointing to this year's record-low steelhead run, some Columbia Basin fish managers are asking BPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to wait until December before using an operation that stops the flow at lower Snake River projects during the night—holding back the river for up to six hou… Read More
The water elevation at Lake Oroville dropped to levels that forced the California Department of Water Resources to take the Hyatt power plant off line Aug. 5. Read More
Resolving water quality issues at Idaho Power's Hells Canyon Complex was recently addressed after two environmental groups and the Nez Perce Tribe settled a legal dispute with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Read More
Three weeks after FERC found that Seattle City Light does not have to conduct a study on the effects of removing the Gorge Dam as part of its relicensing process, the utility announced it will use a test to assess whether a more thorough analysis of dam removal is warranted. Read More
A request for proposals was issued Sept. 13 by the San Diego County Water Authority for a 500 MW closed-loop pumped hydropower storage project using at the San Vicente Reservoir. Read More
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on July 28 denied an environmental organization's challenge of FERC's extension to commence construction of the Eagle Mountain pumped storage hydroelectric project. Read More