Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2026

CONTACTS:
Joseph Bogaard, joseph@wildsalmon.org, 206-300-1003
Tanya Riordan, tanya@wildsalmon.org, 509-990-9777

Hot water temperatures in the lower Snake River are harming salmon, wildlife, and communities

SEATTLE (July 17, 2026) — Water temperatures are rising to harmful levels in the lower Snake and Columbia rivers. Save Our wild Salmon Coalition and 11 NGOs have released their 11th annual Hot Water Report: Warming Waters in the lower Snake and Columbia rivers.

Many once-abundant anadromous fish populations in the Columbia-Snake River Basin are on the brink of extinction today due primarily to harms caused by federal dams and their warming reservoirs, especially in the lower Snake River. The four lower Snake River dams between Tri-Cities and Lewiston, Idaho—Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite—have transformed a healthy, cold water, and free-flowing river into 140 miles of large, hot, stagnant, toxic reservoirs. As a result, we have a sick river that can not support healthy and abundant salmon, steelhead, wildlife, and communities.

In each of the Hot Water Reports this summer, we will present a summary of the highest water temperatures recorded in each of the eight reservoirs in the lower Snake and Columbia rivers and the number of days the reservoirs reached above the 68°F “harm” threshold—the biological and legal water temperature threshold under the Clean Water Act to protect salmon and steelhead. See current water temperatures here.

For decades, federal agencies have resisted meaningful action to reduce the dams’ water temperature pollution. Washington Department of Ecology is using its Clean Water Act authority to require the Army Corps to study all possible ways to cool the lower Snake River and prevent the dams and reservoirs from heating it to levels that kill endangered salmon and steelhead.

Army Corps and Bureau of Reclamation’s most recent draft plan to address high water temperatures in the lower Snake reservoirs would continue to violate the Clean Water Act and Washington State water quality rules, and fail to provide solutions to the dams’ hot water pollution, also known as heat pollution. The federal agencies have until September 7, 2026 to revise their plan and identify solutions to prevent the dams and reservoirs from heating up.

With on-going attacks from the federal government, including weakening the Endangered Species Act, salmon and steelhead need every measure available to provide a lifeline. They are simply running out of time, and the hot, stagnant, toxic river cannot support rebuilding healthy and abundant salmon and steelhead populations.

Due to the dams’ harmful impacts on native fish populations and water quality, current efforts to preserve the status quo and retain the lower Snake River dams violates our nation’s 150-year old Treaty commitments to Northwest Tribes, the Endangered Species Act, and the Clean Water Act. We have a great opportunity - and urgent need as well - to restore ecosystem health in the basin and recover salmon and steelhead abundance by removing the four lower Snake River dams and replacing the dams’ services.

The Hot Water Report is a project of: Save Our wild Salmon Coalition, Association of Northwest Steelheaders, Columbia Riverkeeper, Earthjustice, Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Rivers United, National Wildlife Federation, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, Orca Network, Pacific Rivers, Sierra Club, and Snake River Waterkeeper.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 17, 2026

CONTACTS:
Joseph Bogaard, executive director, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition 
joseph@wildsalmon.org, (206) 300-1003

Tanya Riordan, policy and advocacy director, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. 
tanya@wildsalmon.org , (509) 990-9777

Northwest Power and Conservation Council adopts 2026 Fish & Wildlife Program without August “spill” as imperiled Columbia Basin fish populations face growing threats

Portland, OR – The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council) adopted a new 5-year Fish & Wildlife Program (Program) at its meeting this week in Portland. The Program comes at a time when imperiled salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia Basin continue to decline due to significant federal hydro-system impacts and climate change. The Northwest’s emblematic fish also faces threats from Trump Administration efforts to weaken federal environmental laws and reduce funding for science agencies and critical recovery programs.

The new Program includes many recommendations submitted last year by regional fishery experts – but with one controversial exception. Contrary to the advice of State and Tribal fisheries managers, the Council failed to include “spill” at the eight federal dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers during the month of August. Scientists broadly support spill as one of our most effective near-term tools to aid imperiled salmon and steelhead.

“August spill has strong support of scientists, including our region’s state and Tribal fish managers. With this omission, the Council has missed a critical opportunity to boost struggling fish populations in the basin,” said Joseph Bogaard, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition’s executive director.

“Columbia-Snake River salmon and steelhead are in deep trouble today, and they will encounter especially challenging river conditions this summer. We need to be doing absolutely everything we can right now to provide them emergency relief and a lifeline to the future,” added Bogaard.

The adoption of the 2026 Fish & Wildlife Program comes at a time when fish are encountering drought conditions, a low snowpack, and the anticipated return of a strong El Niño that can bring extreme heatwaves, produce toxic algal blooms, and increase ocean temperatures that harm salmon’s growth and survival. As a result, many scientists fear high mortality for juvenile and adult salmon and steelhead in 2026 across the Northwest.

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and public power utilities began this Fish & Wildlife Program process last year with official comments urging the Council to eliminate its long-held 5 million annual adult fish return goal for the Columbia Basin and to absolve BPA of any legal requirement to help to meet that goal.

“Salmon advocates are grateful for the Council’s hard work to update its Fish & Wildlife Program – and for rejecting BPA’s cynical request to abandon salmon recovery goals in the Columbia Basin,” said Bogaard. “BPA and the operation of the federal hydro-system are among the most significant contributors to declining fish populations and river health in the basin. We need them both contributing to salmon recovery rather than working to undermine it.”

“Tragically, the Northwest has not made meaningful progress in the past 20+ years to meet the Council’s interim goal of 5 million fish annually. Stronger policies and higher levels of funding will be needed in the years ahead if we hope to protect imperiled salmon from extinction and begin rebuild abundant and fishable populations. We’ll need increased leadership not only from the Council, but from Congress and federal agencies as well,” Bogaard added.

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BACKGROUND: Regional fishery managers are forecasting low adult returns for salmon and steelhead throughout the Columbia Basin in 2026. Current predictions for returning Spring Chinook, for example, have been downgraded twice recently. Here’s a snapshot of expected returns in the Columbia Basin from the 2026 Fishery Managers Joint Status Report:

• Upriver (above Bonneville Dam) Spring Chinook preseason forecast anticipated approximately 7,000 less adults returning than 2025 actual returns.
• Overall sockeye salmon return to the mouth of the Columbia River is forecast to be 274,000 - about 40,000 lower than the current 10-year average. Highly endangered Snake River sockeye are expected to contribute just 1.2% of this total return this year.
• Upriver Summer Steelhead forecast is “poor” and fishery managers are planning for another low return. No exact forecast yet.
• Wild winter steelhead forecast (at the Columbia River mouth) is similar to last year - at just 17,400 fish.
• Upriver Fall Chinook forecast is approximately 50,000 less than last year's return.
• The Columbia River coho forecast is 112,000 lower than the actual 2025 return.

BACKGROUND: The Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) began updating its five-year Fish and Wildlife Program in 2025, released a draft plan in December 2025, and provided opportunity for public comments in early 2026. The Council was created by the Northwest Power Act of 1980. A key element of the Council’s mission: to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” fish and wildlife populations impacted by hydropower operations in the Columbia Basin.

With federal salmon recovery policies and funding under attack, this updated Fish and Wildlife Program represented a key opportunity to develop a regionally-supported plan to mitigate harm to salmon and steelhead caused by the Columbia Basin dam operations and ensure future energy planning prioritizes their recovery. With the adoption of a final 2026 Program, the Council is now turning its focus on developing its 9th Regional Power Plan.

“The Northwest needs an updated energy strategy that also supports robust salmon populations. The 9th Power Plan must include significant improvements to our energy system as well as necessary hydro measures identified by regional fishery managers to address the impacts and challenges facing endangered fish populations in the Columbia Basin,” said Bogaard.

February 25, 2026

Court Orders Emergency Actions to Protect Imperiled Columbia Basin Salmon

Victory — Federal defendants ordered to change Columbia Basin hydropower operations to protect endangered salmon and steelhead

CONTACTS
Amanda Goodin, Senior Attorney, Earthjustice, agoodin@earthjustice.org
Elizabeth Manning, Communications, Earthjustice, emanning@earthjustice.org
Jacqueline Koch, Communications, National Wildlife Federation, kochj@nwf.org

LEGAL DOCUMENT

Portland, OR — A federal court in Oregon today ordered federal agencies to change operations of the Columbia Basin hydropower system in critical ways to help improve salmon survival.

The Court unequivocally recognized the dire situation of Columbia Basin salmon, noting that “one of the foundational symbols of the West, a critical recreational, cultural, and economic driver for Western states, and the beating heart and guaranteed resource protected by treaties with several Native American tribes is disappearing from the landscape.”

To help imperiled salmon and steelhead, the Court ordered the federal agencies that operate the hydropower system to increase spill over eight dams on the lower Columbia and Snake Rivers, allowing juvenile fish to pass over the dams instead of through lethal turbines. The court-ordered spill includes additional water flow over the dams in the spring and summer, when increased spill is critical to aid in the recovery of wild Chinook salmon.

The Court found that similar emergency measures had been implemented before and were needed again: “The Court recognizes the dire situation these species are facing. … It appears that the 2020 BiOp and 2020 FEIS follow this disappointing history of avoidance and manipulation instead of sincere efforts at solving the problem and genuinely remediating the harm.”

The Court also said it was not persuaded by information from federal defendants, saying evidence challenging the benefits of spill to salmon “primarily was created for this litigation and is contrary to the scientific evidence in the record.” The Court also noted that, “the majority of the spill has been implemented over the years without such negative repercussions, and the Court does not anticipate such calamities will ensue from the current spill order.”

Conservation, fishing and clean energy groups represented by Earthjustice, joined by the State of Oregon, requested these changes in a preliminary injunction request that was also supported by the State of Washington, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Yakama Nation who joined as amici (friends of the court). The parties returned to court in October, ending a four-year pause in litigation, after the Trump administration last summer unilaterally and abruptly ended the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement aimed at restoring imperiled native fisheries to healthy abundance while investing $1 billion over a decade in the region.

Following are quotes from plaintiffs and Earthjustice:

“The changes to the hydropower system ordered by the court today are immediate and reasonable steps to prevent salmon extinction,” said Earthjustice Attorney Amanda Goodin. “Salmon need help now, and we’re encouraged the court has granted immediate, commonsense relief that will help protect imperiled Northwest salmon and steelhead.”

“Because the federal government threw out a comprehensive plan that would have restored the Columbia Basin while investing in the region, returning to court is the only tool we have left to prevent the collapse of imperiled salmon and steelhead populations,” said Mike Leahy, senior director of wildlife, hunting and fishing policy for the National Wildlife Federation. “While these emergency measures are implemented, we’ll keep our eye on our long-term goal of helping the Tribes and the states restore Snake River salmon for the generations to come.”

“This court decision secures badly needed improvements to hydropower operations to protect the Columbia Basin’s iconic salmon and steelhead runs that are essential to Tribal cultures and our Northwest heritage,” said Sierra Club Snake/Columbia River Salmon Campaign Director Bill Arthur. “We can avoid extinction and restore healthy salmon runs while making long-term investments to provide ample, reliable, affordable energy for the region. Since the Trump administration reneged on the Resilient Columbia Basin agreement, we are seeking other ways to achieve these goals. This court decision helps protect salmon and keeps us on that path.”

“These are the immediate and decisive actions we need to help prevent salmon and steelhead extinction,” said Idaho Rivers United Conservation Director Nick Kunath. “The court recognizes that we must listen the advice that fisheries managers and scientists have been sharing for decades before it’s too late.”

“These emergency measures required by the Court of the federal government will help prevent salmon extinction while we continue our work with others in the region toward a comprehensive solution to restore the Columbia Basin,” said Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association Policy Director Liz Hamilton. “These emergency measures granted by the court will increase survival for the young salmon leaving the river next year and provide hope for those whose livelihoods and culture depend on Columbia River Fisheries.”

“There’s no surprise that the federal government’s decision to walk away from a comprehensive agreement, without any alternative plan, resulted in a serious setback for the Northwest,” said Idaho Conservation League Salmon Program Senior Associate Abbie Abramovich. “These emergency measures offer wild Columbia and Snake River salmon populations a much-needed lifeline.”

“We absolutely can have clean energy and restored salmon runs, and today’s ruling is an important step in the right direction,” said NW Energy Coalition Regional and State Policy Director Zachariah Baker. “The ruling helps protect salmon, while the region continues to collaborate on the comprehensive, strategic solutions envisioned in the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement the administration withdrew from, including how to ensure abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy across the Northwest.”

“The hydropower interests that convinced Trump to break the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement got what they wanted,” said Miles Johnson, Legal Director for Columbia Riverkeeper. “Because of their actions, today’s ruling is necessary to protect fish and fishing in the Columbia River — and it will not disrupt energy production or reliability in the Northwest.”

Background

Earthjustice has represented conservation, fishing, and renewable energy groups, who have fought alongside the Nez Perce Tribe, other Columbia Basin Tribes, and the State of Oregon, in successful court battles for more than 30 years to protect threatened and endangered salmon in the Columbia River Basin. These groups are the National Wildlife Federation, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Sierra Club, Idaho Rivers United, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, NW Energy Coalition, Columbia Riverkeeper, Idaho Conservation League and Fly Fishers International, Inc.

The changes to the hydropower system ordered today by the Court affect the following lower Snake and lower Columbia River dams: Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, Lower Granite, Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day and McNary.

Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead, particularly those that return to the Snake River to spawn, persist at dangerously low abundance and many continue to decline toward extinction. Of the 16 salmon and steelhead stocks that historically return to spawn above Bonneville Dam, four are extinct, and seven more are listed under the Endangered Species Act as endangered or threatened, including all that return to the Snake River. For most of these ESA-listed salmon species, by far the largest threat in their freshwater life stage is the harm caused by federal dams. These dams kill and harm salmon as they attempt to migrate past each dam and by transforming the river into a series of slack water, warm reservoirs.

The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, which stemmed from mediation efforts with the federal government, was based on a comprehensive salmon recovery plan developed by the states of Washington and Oregon and four lower Columbia River Treaty Tribes — the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. That plan is called the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative and remains the guiding document for Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead recovery.

Earthjustice Press Release: Court Orders Emergency Actions to Protect Imperiled Columbia Basin Salmon

CONTACT:
Jacqueline Koch, Communications, National Wildlife Federation, kochj@nwf.org

Court-Ordered Emergency Actions Put Pacific Northwest on Course to Protect Imperiled Columbia Basin Salmon, Steelhead

Federal court in Oregon grants essential emergency measures to protect
endangered salmon and steelhead runs

PORTLAND, Ore. (February 25, 2026) — Court-ordered emergency measures to the operations of the Columbia Basin hydropower system not only will help protect imperiled salmon and steelhead, but also underscore the need for longer-term measures to recover the species. The decision is the latest chapter in the 30-plus year legal fight to restore Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead runs, which are rapidly swimming toward extinction largely due to the cumulative, negative impacts of the four lower Snake River dams. Plaintiffs in National Wildlife Federation v National Marine Fisheries Service returned to court after the federal government unilaterally ended the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement.

“Because the federal government threw out a comprehensive plan that would have restored the Columbia Basin while investing in the region, returning to court is the only tool we have left to prevent the collapse of imperiled salmon and steelhead populations,” said Mike Leahy, senior director of wildlife, hunting and fishing policy for the National Wildlife Federation. “While these emergency measures are implemented, we’ll keep our eye on our long-term goal of helping the Tribes and the states restore Snake River salmon for the generations to come."

Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead, particularly those that return to the Snake River to spawn, persist at dangerously low abundance and many continue to decline toward extinction. Of the 16 salmon and steelhead stocks that historically return to spawn above Bonneville Dam, four are extinct, and seven more are listed under the Endangered Species Act as endangered or threatened, including all that return to the Snake River.

For most of these endangered and threatened salmon, the largest threat in their freshwater life stage is by far the harm caused by federal dams. These dams kill and harm salmon as they attempt to migrate past each dam and by transforming the river into a series of slack water, warm reservoirs.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 26, 2026

CONTACTS:
Joseph Bogaard, executive director, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition
joseph@wildsalmon.org

Tanya Riordan, policy and advocacy director, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition tanya@wildsalmon.org 

 Salmon and Fishing Advocates Applaud Federal Court’s Ruling Ordering Immediate Emergency Action to Protect Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead from Extinction 

Following the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, emergency measures for imperiled wild salmon and steelhead populations are the only near-term option to protect them from further declines and extinction.

This past fall, plaintiff groups led by Earthjustice and supported by the lower Columbia River Tribes and states of Oregon and Washington filed a motion to lift the litigation stay that had been in place as part of the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA). This was quickly followed by a request for preliminary injunctive relief to modify federal dam and reservoir operations – and other emergency actions – in order to increase survival of endangered adult and juvenile fish migrating through the lower Columbia and Snake rivers.

Yesterday — The United States District Court in Portland issued its ruling on plaintiffs’ request for preliminary injunctive relief to modify federal dam and reservoir operations and implement immediate emergency actions on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers to protect endangered salmon and steelhead from further harm.

The court-ordered increased spill over eight dams on the lower Columbia and Snake rivers, in time for the 2026 juvenile fish out-migration that begins each year in March and continues through the end of August—allowing juvenile fish to pass over the dams instead of through lethal turbines.

Judge Michael Simon noted, “The Court recognizes the dire situation these species are facing. … It appears that the 2020 BiOp and 2020 FEIS follow this disappointing history of avoidance and manipulation instead of sincere efforts at solving the problem and genuinely remediating the harm.”

The proposed order will take effect March 1, 2026, and continue through the court’s resolution of the case. The schedule for that resolution will be proposed by the parties within 30 days.

STATEMENT from Joseph Bogaard, executive director, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition:

“Salmon, orca and fishing advocates are breathing a big sigh of relief following the court order to better protect imperiled fish populations by requiring modifications to the operation of the federal dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers. Our region's deeply cherished salmon populations are running out of time. The science is clear: Many native fish populations in the Columbia Basin today face extinction, and urgent action is needed to give them a fighting chance to survive and recover. Salmon advocates across the Northwest and beyond applaud the Tribes, States and non-governmental organizations for seeking emergency action, and we appreciate the court moving quickly to issue its decision. This order will improve survival of these imperiled fish populations as they migrate past dams in the lower Columbia and Snake rivers.”

While salmon advocates see the order as a strong victory for fish, the Court did not grant all of the conservation measures requested by plaintiffs. However, the Court acknowledged the urgent need to deliver emergency action to improve survival of both out-migrating juveniles and returning adult fish, noting that “one of the foundational symbols of the West, a critical recreational, cultural, and economic driver for Western states, and the beating heart and guaranteed resource protected by treaties with several Native American tribes is disappearing from the landscape.”

Additional, long-term changes in the Columbia and Snake rivers will be needed to protect and rebuild sustainable fish populations, including the restoration of the lower Snake River. The federal Columbia-Snake hydro-system is the single greatest source of human-caused mortality for these endangered salmon and steelhead populations.

The order, however, does provide immediate and critical relief for the fish and an opportunity for our region to work together on longer-term comprehensive solutions — for salmon and orca, to uphold Tribal Treaty rights, and to plan and develop a more sustainable energy system.

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For additional background and Plaintiff statements see Earthjustice Press Release: Court Orders Emergency Actions to Protect Imperiled Columbia Basin Salmon - Earthjustice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 19, 2025

CONTACT:
Tanya Riordan, policy and advocacy director, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition
tanya@wildsalmon.org // 509-990-9777

Save Our wild Salmon commends the Northwest Planning and Conservation Council for upholding fish and wildlife recovery goals in the draft 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program, AND we must ensure the final plan adopts additional Fishery Manager recommendations  

Thank you to the Northwest Planning and Conservation Council Members and Staff for their thoughtful and effective preparation of the DRAFT 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program.

Save Our wild Salmon Coalition commends the Council for upholding important fish and wildlife recovery goals, including Bonneville Power Administration's legal responsibility to meet those goals and to "protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the development, operation and management of the Columbia River hydroelectric facilities."

Save Our wild Salmon Coalition and regional stakeholders look forward to providing detailed comments to ensure the Council adopts a final plan that includes ALL of the State and Tribal Fishery Managers' recommendations, including elevated levels of spill through August 31st to improve out migrating juvenile fish passage survival and adult fish migration through the hydro system.

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