Credit: EcoFlight

Sep. 11, 2025
By Isabella Breda

A decades-long court battle over the ongoing operations of the federal hydropower system in the Columbia River Basin has reignited after the Trump administration withdrew from a key agreement.

The Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribal nations, states of Oregon and Washington and environmental nonprofit organizations on Thursday requested the court lift a stay that would end a pause on the groups’ litigation. The request was approved by a judge.

The five-year pause was buoyed by the 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, which provided a path to remove the four dams on the Lower Snake River and help restore salmon runs.

The federal government, under the Biden administration, committed $1 billion to the work that would have included boosting clean-energy production led by tribal nations and replacing other services of the dams, like transportation and irrigation infrastructure.

President Donald Trump in June clawed back the agreement, which he stated “placed concerns about climate change above the Nation’s interests in reliable energy sources.”

“It’s always been our goal to work in partnership to develop this more comprehensive vision where we recover salmon, and we also look to replace the services of the Snake River dams and invest in our regional economy,” said Amanda Goodin, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, representing the environmental groups. “All of that is much easier to do outside of court than it is with a court order.”

Dam operations on the Columbia and Snake have been fought over for more than 30 years, in one of the longest-running unresolved legal fights in the region. Of the 16 Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead stocks that historically returned to spawn above the present-day location of Bonneville Dam, about 40 miles east of Portland, four are extinct and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Nearly a quarter of Snake River spring/summer Chinook populations and 14% of wild Snake River steelhead populations had fewer than 50 spawners last year, according to data provided by the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribal nations and the states of Washington and Oregon.

Lifting the stay in litigation is an opportunity to do what’s needed to ensure the salmon survive until there is a more permanent solution in place, Nez Perce Chairman Shannon Wheeler said.

“We need to take necessary action that will help the salmon, considering their dire status,” Wheeler said. “We also know that status quo hasn’t changed the negative trajectory of the species.”

The Seattle-Times: Legal battle reignites over Lower Snake River Dams, salmon