December 16, 2013

University-based facilitators issue report on Columbia Basin salmon recovery issues; key findings include regionwide readiness for dialogue and durable solutions

Contact:Gilly Lyons, Save Our Wild Salmon: (503) 975.3202 or gilly@wildsalmon.org

On Monday afternoon, a team of facilitators from Portland State University and the University of Washington issued a report, commissioned earlier this year by NOAA Fisheries, regarding regional perspectives on long-term salmon recovery in the Columbia Basin, and on the potential for collaborative processes around shared salmon solutions. The report summarizes and synthesizes the themes and ideas that emerged from interviews with more than 200 stakeholders across the Northwest. Below is a statement by Save Our Wild Salmon executive director Joseph Bogaard on the final Assessment Report.

“We welcome this report and thank the Assessment Team at Oregon Consensus and the William D. Ruckelshaus Center for its hard work, expertise and professionalism in preparing it. The issue it addresses – the future of Columbia Basin salmon recovery – is one of tremendous importance and scope, affecting virtually every Northwest resident.
 
“This Assessment Report confirms that Northwest people are ready and eager to collaborate in pursuit of durable solutions to the linked challenges of salmon restoration, energy production, transportation and water use. Our Northwest governors, working alongside other elected leaders and federal agencies, are uniquely positioned to convene and lead such a collaboration.
 
“An authentic collaborative stakeholder process can end the harmful uncertainty facing river- and salmon-dependent businesses and communities, energy producers and consumers, and the survival of the Columbia Basin's iconic endangered wild salmon. The Assessment Report reflects the regionwide desire for enduring solutions on salmon, energy, agriculture and transportation; multi-party collaboration is our best opportunity for getting there.
 
“We urge our Northwest leaders to seize this opportunity to bring citizens together to solve one of the Columbia Basin’s greatest and longest-running challenges. And we urge our federal agencies – NOAA Fisheries, Bonneville Power Administration and others – to avoid yet another round of litigation by producing a legal and science-based salmon plan next month that lays the foundation for a successful stakeholder collaboration.”
 
Read the Columbia Basin Salmon Recovery Situation Assessment Report here:

February 7, 2013

On February 4, Congressman Doc Hastings sent a letter to NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, objecting to a Columbia-Snake stakeholder process NOAA has begun and asking that it not proceed. The Hastings Letter can be found here: http://hastings.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hastingsltrresalmonassessment02-04-13.pdf Congressman Hastings is wrong to seek an end to NOAA’s stakeholder process. Other Northwest elected leaders support it as a worthwhile effort to end the deadlock on Columbia-Snake salmon that is harming people and economies. We urge Congressman Hastings to give NOAA a chance to break the pattern of failure and heal regional divisions. Congressman Hastings says salmon populations are increasing. This is incorrect. In fact, official projections for 2013 returns of endangered salmon in the Columbia-Snake are very low for most species. This follows low returns in 2012. Further, none of the 13 Columbia-Snake stocks listed under the Endangered Species Act are anywhere near levels considered necessary for recovery. Congressman Hastings says that stakeholder collaboration is occurring under the existing federal salmon plan. This is also incorrect. The State of Oregon, the Nez Perce Tribe, salmon fishermen, and conservation groups have been sidelined in that federal process. NOAA’s stakeholder process offers an opportunity to repair that regional division. One thing is clear: perpetuating regional division will not work. The federal salmon plan Congressman Hastings supports has been ruled illegal three times. The Save Our wild Salmon Coalition (SOS) supports stakeholder collaboration as our best opportunity to restore Columbia Basin salmon and salmon jobs, and provide certainty for communities and users. Our fishing, conservation and business constituencies want NOAA’s process to succeed, and will work hard to help it do so. We respectfully urge Congressman Hastings to join other Northwest leaders to support this process and help it succeed.

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CONTACT: Joseph Bogaard, deputy director, 206-286-4455, x103, joseph@wildsalmon.org

Below is a statement from Pat Ford RE: the Dec. 20 FERC ruling concerning BPA’s “environmental redispatch” policy implemented in the last 2 years during spring, affecting Columbia/Snake River salmon survival, spill levels at the federal dams, and wind energy production.

FERC’s ruling can be found here:  http://ferc.gov/whats-new/comm-meet/2012/ca12-20-12.asp

RE: ON THE FERC’S DECEMBER 20 RULING ON BONNEVILLE POWER’S WINDPOWER CUT-OFFS

Today’s ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) means that the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) policy on wind power cut-offs each spring must be revisited.  We want to suggest a “shared solution” approach.

Save Our wild Salmon intervened in the FERC proceeding last year because wild salmon are affected by any actions taken when Northwest dams and wind projects together produce more energy than the region needs.  In our filing, we rebutted BPA’s inaccurate claim that it had to cut off wind projects to avoid harming salmon.  But the issue now, given FERC’s ruling, is how do BPA and the Northwest create a policy that is lawful, balanced, and, to the maximum extent possible, a win-win?

Salmon fishermen and conservation groups believe shared solutions can be found if the affected parties are all involved in developing it.  Salmon recovery, clean, reliable energy and affordable power rates are compatible objectives.  Northwest people want solutions that reflect this fact.  Our members want to be part of a joint effort to find those solutions.  

Northwest people and federal agencies will not reach good solutions if we keep treating salmon, energy and economic policy as separate matters.  They are not separate.  A process that brings people together to seek solutions to the spring over-generation of energy is the best way forward.  We can develop a better policy in time for this coming spring if we start now.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)

July 31, 2009

Download the PDF

Few issues are more controversial or contentious than the issue of dam removal on the Snake River system. Some have argued because they don’t like certain possibilities that they don’t want to know about them. This whistling past the graveyard is both unrealistic and unwise. Things we don’t like sometimes are options, and we should know the facts.

That is why I am pleased to co-sponsor the Salmon Solutions and Planning Act with my colleagues Jim McDermott and Tom Petri. This is an important piece of legislation that will provide policymakers in the Pacific Northwest and around the country with additional information necessary to aide in the recovery of Columbia Basin salmon.

The legislation requires the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Transportation, Department of Commerce, and Department of Energy to study the environmental, infrastructure, and economic issues associated with removing the four Lower Snake River dams. The bill also includes language authorizing the Secretary of the Army to remove the dams. This language is intended to clarify that lower Snake River dam removal is within the Corps’ authority. It is important to note this bill contains no “trigger language” that would mandate dam removal.

Salmon are a significant ecological, economic and cultural resource for the Northwest and indeed the entire country. These fish once supported the world’s most productive salmon watershed. Unfortunately, wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake Rivers have been in decline for decades, with thirteen stocks now listed under the Endangered Species Act. Not only has this decline had negative impacts on the watersheds of the Pacific Northwest, it wreaks havoc on salmon-dependent communities and local economies.

Since coming to Congress, I have supported funding for habitat restoration, reforming hatchery practices, and re-examining our harvest practices, all measures that can contribute to salmon recovery. However, with salmon populations continuing to decline, it’s clear that what we have been doing for the past 20 years has not been working. I have called for an approach that evaluates all science-based recovery options, including dam removal. This legislation represents an important piece of that analysis.

Some have equated knowing the facts with actually triggering the process to remove the dams. My support for this legislation is not support for dam removal. My position over the years on this has been consistently to support evaluating all options for salmon recovery. The studies authorized by the bill will help us determine the consequences of dam removal not only for Northwest salmon, and but also for transportation, energy, and irrigation in the region.

Like other Pacific Northwest residents, I have a deep interest in coming to a resolution on salmon recovery. The stress and uncertainty created by illegal biological opinions and the involvement of the judicial system not only harms fish, but also the farmers, fishermen, Tribes, ports, union members, and others whose livelihood depends on the Columbia River system.

This legislation is an important step in having the facts about our options for restoring self-sustaining, fishable populations of Northwest salmon.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer represents Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District.

In recent months, we have seen the heartbreaking consequences of persistent inequality in the United States play out as the COVID-19 pandemic transforms our nation and the world. Its impact is falling disproportionately on communities of color, Indigenous communities, and low-income communities. Rates of infection and deaths from the coronavirus among African​-American, Latinx and Indigenous people are far higher than among whites and, not surprisingly, access to affordable quality health care is harder to come by in marginalized communities.

In the last week, we have watched demonstrations build across the country in response to the tragic and indefensible deaths of Black Americans including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and George Floyd. We share this grief; we support all voices raised in peaceful protest; and we stand in solidarity with every person, organization, and institution working to heal our communities and create a more equitable, just and sustainable world.

In the United States and beyond, we all deserve to live safely and with dignity, including healthcare, housing, water, education, civil and criminal justice, food security, a healthy environment, and much more. It is our collective responsibility, as advocates for healthy fish, wildlife, lands and waters, as parents, as neighbors, and as humans, to speak out against inequity and injustice in our lives and communities. It is our collective responsibility to listen to and support Black people, Indigenous and communities of color to achieve equity and justice. It is our collective responsibility to build a country where everyone can live, work, breathe, run, and enjoy nature and its bounty freely and safely.

Here are several ways you can contribute to a more just future for all:

DONATE: Official George Floyd Memorial Fund started by his brother, Philonise Floyd.

LEARN: Justice on Earth: People of Faith Working at the Intersections of Race, Class, and the Environment by Manish Mishra-Marzetti and Jennifer Nordstrom  (Editors)

ACT: Call for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery.

Memo to Northwest writers, reporters, editorialists and columnists    July 23, 2013

Columbia and Snake river temperatures reach 70 degrees - menacing endangered salmon and river economies 

Last Thursday, the water temperature at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River hit 70.4 degrees F - the first time this year that water temperatures at Columbia-Snake river federal dams passable to salmon reached 70 degrees. Through Sunday, July 21, it happened six more times, all at Ice Harbor:
 
Ice Harbor Dam:  

July 18 forebay (above dam)  70.4 F
July 19 forebay                      70.2 F                    tailrace (below dam) 70.8 F
July 20 forebay                      70.4 F                    tailrace                    70.6 F
July 21 forebay                      70.4 F                    tailrace                    70.6 F

The optimal temperature range for salmon is 55-64 degrees F.  This past Sunday, the lowest river temperature at any of these eight federal dams was 66.3 degrees F.

Since 1950, maximum August water temperatures in the Columbia River are up about 2.7 degrees F.[1] This signals big trouble for us and our rivers. Hot water is a clear and present danger to Northwest people and salmon. Hot rivers are sick rivers, which will harm people as well as salmon.  Last week, high temperatures on the Middle Fork of the John Day River killed nearly 200 wild salmon. Scientists have identified warming of river temperatures as a key factor in the decline of salmon in the Columbia and Snake River Basin.[2] That’s why Save Our wild Salmon will issue regular alerts through this summer as river temperatures exceed 70 degrees at federal dams on the Columbia or Snake that endangered salmon must traverse. Each will provide further background on what hot water means to salmon, rivers, and people.  For Northwest people to respond to the worsening health of the Columbia and Snake rivers, they first must be informed about its warming waters. Please consider writing on rising Columbia and Snake river temperatures, what they mean, and what can be done about them.  Thank you. You can view up-to-date Columbia-Snake temperatures here: http://www.fpc.org/tempgraphssl/NETFullYear_tempgraph.aspx Joseph Bogaard, deputy director, 206-286-4455 x103; joseph@wildsalmon.org
Gilly Lyons, policy director, 503-975-3202; gilly@wildsalmon.org [1] National Research Council.  2004.  Managing the Columbia River Instream Flows, Water Withdrawals, and Salmon Survival.  National Research Council, The National Academies Press.  Washington, D.C.  With supplementary data by Dr. Don Chapman [2] Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB), 2007.  Climate Change Impacts on Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife (Portland OR: Northwest Power and Conservation Council).

Columbia and Snake River temperatures regularly exceed 70 degrees

Memo to Northwest writers, reporters, editorialists and columnists - July 30, 2013

For the week July 22-28, water temperatures were 70 degrees F or higher 35 times at four federal dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers passable to salmon. All readings at Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River surpassed 70 degrees during this week, and readings at The Dalles Dam surpassed 70 degrees July 24-28:



ICE HARBOR DAM:


July 22 forebay (above dam)   70.6 F tailrace (below dam) 71 F

July 23 forebay   70.7 F tailrace   71.5 F


July 24 forebay   71.1 F tailrace   71.5 F

July 25 forebay   71.1 F tailrace   71.5 F

July 26 forebay   71.1 F tailrace   71.5 F

July 27 forebay   71.1 F tailrace   71.5 F

July 28 forebay   71.1 F tailrace   71.2 F

THE DALLES DAM:

July 24 tailrace 70.1 F

July 25 forebay 70.1 F tailrace 70.3 F

July 26 forebay 70.4 F tailrace 70.4 F

July 27 forebay 70.5 F tailrace 70.7 F

July 28 forebay 70 F tailrace 70.2 F


BONNEVILLE DAM:


July 25 forebay 70.2 F tailrace 70.2 F

July 26 tailrace 70.7 F

July 27 tailrace 70.2 F

JOHN DAY DAM: 


July 25 forebay 70.3 F tailrace 70.1 F

July 26 forebay 70.6 F tailrace 70.5 F

July 27 forebay 70.7 F tailrace 70.7 F


July 28 forebay 70.9 F tailrace 70.9 F

Research has examined the effects of warm water on Columbia Basin fall chinook and summer steelhead, two species that generally initiate their upstream migration to spawn in the summer. The results showed significant delays in upstream migration when temperatures exceeded 68 degrees F [1], and delays for up to 61% of migrating steelhead when temperatures are above normal.[2]

Maintaining thermal refuges (areas of cooler water) below warm water areas will become steadily more important as temperatures increase and extend over longer periods.

We hope you will consider writing or reporting on rising Columbia and Snake River temperatures, and what can be done about them. Thank you.


Columbia-Snake temperatures can be found here:
http://www.fpc.org/tempgraphssl/NETFullYear_tempgraph.aspx


For more information, please contact:

Joseph Bogaard, deputy director, (206) 286-4455, x103; joseph@wildsalmon.org
Gilly Lyons, policy director, (503) 975-3202; gilly@wildsalmon.org

-------------------------

[1] Goniea, T.M., et al., 2006. “Behavioral Thermoregulation and Slowed Migration by Adult Fall Chinook Salmon in Response to High Columbia River Water Temperatures.” Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 135: 408-419.

[2] High, B., C.A. Peery, and D.H. Bennett, 2006. “Temporary Straying of Columbia River Summer Steelhead into Coolwater Areas and its Effects on Migration Rates.” Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 135: 519-538.

Memo to Northwest writers, reporters, editorialists, and columnists – Aug. 15, 2013 Columbia River temperatures over 70 degrees increase

From August 5 through 11, water temperatures were 70 degrees or higher 56 times at Columbia and Snake River federal dams passable to salmon, up from 45 times last week. Temperatures at The Dalles and John Day Dams have been 70 F or higher 18 straight days, and at week’s end temperatures were above 70 F at all four mainstem Columbia dams. At Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River, temperatures have been above 70 F for 24 straight days. Total daily exceedances this summer have climbed well past the total number last summer.

This week’s specifics:

Forebay (above dam) Tailrace (below dam)

Bonneville Dam      
Aug 5    70.9 F    70.9 F
Aug 6    71.6 F    71.5 F
Aug 7    71.7 F    71.7 F
Aug 8    71.5 F    71.6 F
Aug 9    71.1 F    71.1 F
Aug 10  71.2 F    71.2 F
Aug 11  71.2 F    71.2 F

The Dalles Dam
Aug 5    71.7 F    71.7 F
Aug 6    71.6 F    71.8 F
Aug 7    71.3 F    71.4 F
Aug 8    70.9 F    71.1 F
Aug 9    71.3 F    71.3 F
Aug 10  71.4 F    71.5 F
Aug 11  71.4 F    71.5 F

John Day Dam       
Aug 5    71.4 F    71.3 F
Aug 6    71.2 F    71 F
Aug 7    71 F       70.9 F
Aug 8    71.2 F    71 F
Aug 9    71.4 F    71.3 F
Aug 10  71.5 F    71.4 F
Aug 11  71.5 F    71.4 F

McNary Dam      
Aug 8    70.1 F
Aug 9    70.1 F
Aug 10  70 F

Ice Harbor Dam         
Aug 5    70.1 F
Aug 6    70.3 F
Aug 7    70.7 F
Aug 8    70.4 F    70.7 F
Aug 9    70.4 F    70.7 F
Aug 10  70.3 F    70.6 F
Aug 11  70.3 F    70.6 F

These readings can seem repetitive, day after day after day. That is the point: every day of every month, climate change is now heating up the Northwest’s life-giving rivers.

You may have read or written last week about the Nez Perce Tribe’s blockade of tar sands-bound “mega-loads” crawling through the Tribe’s reservation and sacred lands despite their opposition.  Those mega-loads reached Nez Perce lands by being barged up the 70 degree Columbia and Snake Rivers, bound for the Alberta tar sands where their use will increase carbon emissions that in coming years will heat up the Columbia and Snake even further to 75 F or more. The Nez Perce get this connection even if federal agencies don’t. Thank you for examining rising Columbia River temperatures and what can be done about them.

Columbia-Snake temperatures are at http://www.fpc.org/tempgraphssl/NETFullYear_tempgraph.aspx
 
For more information, please contact:    

Joseph Bogaard, deputy director, 206-286-4455 x103, joseph@wildsalmon.org;      

Gilly Lyons, policy director, 503-975-3202, gilly@wildsalmon.org

Memo to Northwest writers, reporters, editorialists, and columnists – Aug. 15, 2013

Columbia River temperatures over 70 degrees increase

From August 5 through 11, water temperatures were 70 degrees or higher 56 times at Columbia and Snake River federal dams passable to salmon, up from 45 times last week. Temperatures at The Dalles and John Day Dams have been 70 F or higher 18 straight days, and at week’s end temperatures were above 70 F at all four mainstem Columbia dams. At Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River, temperatures have been above 70 F for 24 straight days. Total daily exceedances this summer have climbed well past the total number last summer.

This week’s specifics:

Forebay (above dam) Tailrace (below dam)

Bonneville Dam      
Aug 5    70.9 F    70.9 F
Aug 6    71.6 F    71.5 F
Aug 7    71.7 F    71.7 F
Aug 8    71.5 F    71.6 F
Aug 9    71.1 F    71.1 F
Aug 10  71.2 F    71.2 F
Aug 11  71.2 F    71.2 F

The Dalles Dam
Aug 5    71.7 F    71.7 F
Aug 6    71.6 F    71.8 F
Aug 7    71.3 F    71.4 F
Aug 8    70.9 F    71.1 F
Aug 9    71.3 F    71.3 F
Aug 10  71.4 F    71.5 F
Aug 11  71.4 F    71.5 F

John Day Dam       
Aug 5    71.4 F    71.3 F
Aug 6    71.2 F    71 F
Aug 7    71 F       70.9 F
Aug 8    71.2 F    71 F
Aug 9    71.4 F    71.3 F
Aug 10  71.5 F    71.4 F
Aug 11  71.5 F    71.4 F

McNary Dam      
Aug 8    70.1 F
Aug 9    70.1 F
Aug 10  70 F

Ice Harbor Dam         
Aug 5    70.1 F
Aug 6    70.3 F
Aug 7    70.7 F
Aug 8    70.4 F    70.7 F
Aug 9    70.4 F    70.7 F
Aug 10  70.3 F    70.6 F
Aug 11  70.3 F    70.6 F

These readings can seem repetitive, day after day after day. That is the point: every day of every month, climate change is now heating up the Northwest’s life-giving rivers.

You may have read or written last week about the Nez Perce Tribe’s blockade of tar sands-bound “mega-loads” crawling through the Tribe’s reservation and sacred lands despite their opposition.  Those mega-loads reached Nez Perce lands by being barged up the 70 degree Columbia and Snake Rivers, bound for the Alberta tar sands where their use will increase carbon emissions that in coming years will heat up the Columbia and Snake even further to 75 F or more. The Nez Perce get this connection even if federal agencies don’t. Thank you for examining rising Columbia River temperatures and what can be done about them.

Columbia-Snake temperatures are at http://www.fpc.org/tempgraphssl/NETFullYear_tempgraph.aspx
 
For more information, please contact:    

Joseph Bogaard, deputy director, 206-286-4455 x103, joseph@wildsalmon.org;      

Gilly Lyons, policy director, 503-975-3202, gilly@wildsalmon.org

Memo to Northwest writers, reporters, editorialists, and columnists – Aug. 21, 2013 Columbia River temperatures over 70 degrees continue

From August 12 through 18, water temperatures were 70 degrees or higher 63 times at Columbia and Snake River federal dams passable to salmon, up from 56 times last week. Temperatures at The Dalles and John Day Dams have been 70 F or higher 25 straight days, and have been above 70 F at all four main-stem Columbia dams for 10 straight days.  At Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River, temperatures have been above 70 F 31 straight days – a full month.  On August 17, temperatures at The Dalles and John Day Dams hit 72 F, the highest reading so far this summer.  

Total daily exceedances for the summer are nearing 200.   This week’s specifics:
 
Forebay (above dam) Tailrace (below dam)

Bonneville Dam     
Aug 12    71.2 F     71.3 F
Aug 13    71.3 F     71.3 F
Aug 14    71.3 F     71.4 F
Aug 15    71.4 F     71.4 F
Aug 16    71.6 F     71.6 F
Aug 17    71.8 F     71.9 F
Aug 18    71.8 F     71.8 F

The Dalles Dam         
Aug 12   71.3 F     71.4 F
Aug 13   71.4 F     71.5 F
Aug 14   71.6 F     71.7 F
Aug 15   71.7 F     71.8 F
Aug 16   71.8 F     71.9 F
Aug 17   71.9 F     72 F
Aug 18   71.8 F     71.9 F

John Day Dam       
Aug 12    71.5 F     71.4 F
Aug 13    71.6 F     71.6 F
Aug 14    71.9 F     71.8 F
Aug 15    71.9 F     71.8 F
Aug 16    71.8 F     71.8 F
Aug 17    71.9 F     72 F
Aug 18    71.8 F     71.8 F

McNary Dam       
Aug 12    70 F
Aug 13    70.3 F
Aug 14    70.7 F
Aug 15    70.9 F
Aug 16    71.4 F
Aug 17    71.5 F
Aug 18    71.5 F

Ice Harbor Dam         
Aug 12    70.3 F    70.8 F
Aug 13    70.3       70.6 F
Aug 14    70.2 F    70.8 F
Aug 15    70.2 F    70.7 F
Aug 16    70.1 F    70.7 F
Aug 17    70.1 F    70.4 F
Aug 18    70.1 F    70.5 F

Fish species now migrating, and thus being exposed to these very stressful temperatures, include Columbia and Snake River fall chinook salmon, Columbia and Snake River steelhead, and Pacific Lamprey.
 
Columbia-Snake temperatures are at http://www.fpc.org/tempgraphssl/NETFullYear_tempgraph.aspx
 
For more information, please contact:

Joseph Bogaard, deputy director, 206-286-4455 x103, joseph@wildsalmon.org;

Gilly Lyons, policy director, 503-975-3202, gilly@wildsalmon.org

Highest river temperature of 2013 – 72.7 F at John Day Dam

Memo to Northwest writers, reporters, editorialists, and columnists – Aug. 27, 2013

At week’s end, August 25, river temperatures at John Day Dam have been above 72 degrees five straight days, and on August 22 reached 72.7 degrees, the highest reading of 2013. Temperatures at The Dalles and John Day Dams have been 70 F or higher for 32 straight days, and above 70 F at all four mainstem Columbia dams 17 straight days. At Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River, temperatures have been above 70 F for 38 straight days. These month-long hot water temperatures are disrupting salmon and steelhead migrations. This week’s specifics:

Forebay reading (above dam), followed by Tailrace reading (below dam)

Bonneville Dam
Aug 19    71.8 F     71.9 F
Aug 20    71.6 F     71.6 F
Aug 21    71.4 F     71.5 F
Aug 22    71.4 F     71.4 F
Aug 23    71.3 F     71.3 F
Aug 24    71.4 F     71.4 F
Aug 25    71.4 F     71.3 F 

The Dalles Dam
Aug 19    71.7 F     71.8 F
Aug 20    71.5 F     71.7 F
Aug 21    71.9 F     71.9 F
Aug 22    72 F        72.1 F
Aug 23    72.1 F     72.1 F
Aug 24    71.8 F     71.9 F
Aug 25    71.7 F     71.7 F 

John Day Dam
Aug 19    71.7 F     71.7 F
Aug 20    71.8 F     71.9 F
Aug 21    72.5 F     72.4 F
Aug 22    72.7 F     72.5 F
Aug 23    72.4 F     72.3 F
Aug 24    72.3 F     72.3 F
Aug 25    72.3 F     72.3 F

McNary Dam (tailrace only)
Aug 19    71.4 F
Aug 20    71.5 F
Aug 21    71.5 F
Aug 22    71.3 F
Aug 23    71.2 F
Aug 24    70.8 F
Aug 25    70.4 F

Ice Harbor Dam
Aug 19    70.1 F     70.6 F
Aug 20    70.2 F     70.8 F
Aug 21    70.1 F     70.7 F
Aug 22    70.1 F     70.4 F
Aug 23    70.1 F     70.2 F
Aug 24    70 F        70.1 F
Aug 25    70.3 F (tailrace only)

On September 9, the federal government will release its fourth attempt since 2000 at a lawful plan to protect and help restore Columbia and Snake River salmon. The previous three plans have been ruled illegal in federal court. How the pending plan responds to rising river temperatures and other harmful effects of climate change is a main indicator of its scientific soundness and legality. Our weekly reports make clear that hot water is not a future problem for salmon and people. Hot water is a problem today.

Columbia-Snake temperatures are at: http://www.fpc.org/tempgraphssl/NETFullYear_tempgraph.aspx 

For more information, please contact:

Gilly Lyons, SOS policy director, at (503) 975-3202 or gilly@wildsalmon.org

70 Degrees Or More For 24-45 Straight Days in the Columbia and Snake Rivers

Memo to Northwest writers, reporters, editorialists, and columnists

As of September 1, river temperatures at all four lower Columbia River dams have been 70 degrees or above for 24 straight days. At the middle two of those dams – The Dalles and John Day – it’s been 39 straight days. At Ice Harbor Dam, the Snake River dam closest to the Columbia, it’s been 45 straight days.

The story is monotonous - and somber. Together the four lower Snake and four lower Columbia dams impound about 400 consecutive miles of river. Total 2013 readings of 70 degrees or more in these 400 miles are now nearly triple the number in 2012. Last year, the great bulk of 70-plus readings were in August. This year, 70-plus readings began in mid-July and have now stretched continuously into September.

This week’s specifics:

Forebay (above dam) Tailrace (below dam)

Bonneville Dam
Aug 26     71.2 F     71.2 F
Aug 27     71.1 F     71.2 F
Aug 28     71.5 F     71.5 F
Aug 29     71.7 F     71.8 F
Aug 30     72 F        72 F
Aug 31     72.3 F     72.3 F
Sept 1      72.3 F     72.3 F

The Dalles Dam
Aug 26     71.6 F     71.7 F
Aug 27     71.9 F     72 F
Aug 28     72.2 F     72.2 F
Aug 29     72.2 F     72.3 F
Aug 30     72 F        72.1 F
Aug 31     72.1 F     72.1 F
Sept 1      72.1 F     72.1 F

John Day Dam
Aug 26     72.3 F     72.3 F
Aug 27     72.2 F     72.3 F
Aug 28     72.2 F     72.2 F
Aug 29     72.1 F     72 F
Aug 30     72 F        72 F
Aug 31     72.2 F     72.1 F
Sept 1      72.6 F     72.2 F

McNary Dam
Aug 26                    70.2 F
Aug 27                    70.3 F
Aug 28                    70.6 F
Aug 29                    70.4 F
Aug 30                    70.2 F
Aug 31                    70.8 F
Sept 1                     70.8 F

Ice Harbor Dam
Aug 26     70.1 F    70.3 F
Aug 27     70.3 F    70.7 F
Aug 28     70.2 F    70.6 F
Aug 29                   70.3 F
Aug 30                   70.1 F
Aug 31     70 F       70.2 F
Sept 1      70.1 F    70.4 F

Lower Monumental
Aug 31 70.2 F
Sept 1 70.1

As we noted last week, federal agencies will release their fourth attempt since 2000 at a lawful plan to restore Columbia and Snake River salmon on September 9. Will the plan acknowledge rising river temperatures, and what actions will it propose to respond to them?

Columbia-Snake temperatures are at http://www.fpc.org/tempgraphssl/NETFullYear_tempgraph.aspx

For more information, please contact: Gilly Lyons, SOS policy director, 503-975-3202, gilly@wildsalmon.org

PORTLAND, Ore. – Today, May 20th, a Washington Superior Court judge ruled against salmon fishermen, businesses, and advocates in a lawsuit looking to ensure that Washington’s water quality standards protect salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The ruling comes after a series of petitions to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) to heed the best available science and revise Washington’s existing so-called Total Dissolved Gas (TDG) limits to assist young salmon making their journey to the sea. The Court deferred to Ecology’s decision and declined to order the agency to change its Clean Water Act standards.

“We’re disappointed with the decision today,“ said Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association (NSIA) Executive Director Liz Hamilton.  “The issue of whether we do more for salmon in the Columbia and Snake Rivers is synonymous with whether we’re serious about protecting fishing families. It’s not just about salmon; it’s also about our businesses and all the people they employ because of salmon.”

This revision in the dissolved gas standard would have brought Washington's Clean Water Act standards in the Columbia and Snake rivers in line with salmon science in the Basin and would have allowed for more spill at the dams.  However, the court’s decision means – at least for the short-term -- that salmon and steelhead will have a harder migration past these dams.  Ecology’s refusal to make this standard more protective is a missed opportunity to ensure that up to 9% more salmon and steelhead survive their trip to the ocean.

Says Earthjustice attorney Steve Mashuda in response to the ruling, “It’s unfortunate that we’re arguing with Ecology about this when every fisheries manager in the region agrees that making the standard more protective is necessary to help endangered salmon.  We’ll be reviewing this decision closely to consider an appeal because it’s simply too important for our businesses and for salmon in the region.”

Amy Baird, Communications Director, Save our Wild Salmon
(503) 230-0421 ext 13, media@wildsalmon.org
John McManus, Communications Director, EarthJustice
(650) 218-8650, jmcmanus@earthjustice.org

For Immediate Release 
March 6, 2024

Media Contacts:  
Tanya Riordan, Policy and Advocacy Director, Save Our Wild Salmon, tanya@wildsalmon.org
Eric Gonzalez Alfaro, Policy Advocate, Earthjustice, egonzalez@earthjustice.org
Lisa McShane, Blue Spruce Strategies, lisa@blue-spruce.com

Washington State Legislature Funds Recreational Study Connected to Columbia Basin Restoration

The new recreation study joins three previously-funded studies on how to best replace energy, transportation and irrigation services now provided by the lower Snake River Dams

OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON: The Washington State Legislature yesterday appropriated $600,000 in its 2024-2025 Supplemental Operating Budget (SB 5950) to identify and study recreational and conservation opportunities on the Lower Snake River in advance of any future federal decision to authorize breaching of the four federal lower Snake River dams.

The new recreation study joins a set of similar studies funded by the Legislature last year to inform governing bodies and the public on infrastructure updates that could maintain and further develop energy, irrigation, and transportation options if breaching were to occur.

The Legislature’s proviso will ensure federal funds can be used as part of a cost sharing agreement between Washington state and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The cost sharing agreement was one part of a December 2023 agreement on Columbia and Snake River basin restoration efforts between the Biden administration, Washington and Oregon State, four lower Columbia Basin Tribes – the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribes, and Earthjustice and the fishing, conservation and renewable energy groups it represents.

Earthjustice, American Rivers, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, and allies applaud Governor Inslee for including the proviso in his budget, and the Legislature for ensuring the investment was maintained in the supplemental operating budget finalized and released today. Following are statements from these organizations:

“By funding this important study, the Legislature is investing in our communities and taking another important step toward restoring the lower Snake River, protecting endangered salmon and honoring our treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations,” said Eric Gonzalez Alfaro, Policy Advocate with Earthjustice’s Northwest Office. “The public will need this information as we move forward with important choices for our region, and we applaud the Legislature for making this sage investment.”

“We know we can replace and modernize the transportation, energy, and irrigation services of the four lower Snake River dams, and we're grateful Washington State began those important planning processes in 2023,” said Tanya Riordan, Policy and Advocacy Director with Save Our wild Salmon Coalition. “This additional recreational analysis will identify the cultural, recreation, and ecosystem improvements of a restored lower Snake River, significantly benefiting salmon, people, and communities across the region.”

“Fisheries managers tell us that recovery to healthy and abundant fish returns would, at a minimum, have substantial economic benefits, more than doubling the economic benefits of sportfishing to rural towns throughout the region,” said Liz Hamilton, Policy Director for the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association. “In 2022, the basin’s mainstem fisheries generated $50.6 million in direct expenditures. Restoring the basin is expected to generate approximately $125 million.”

“A free-flowing lower Snake River will restore 140 miles of spawning and rearing habitat and enable salmon and steelhead to recover”, said Sarah Dyrdahl, American Rivers’ Northwest Regional Director. “Fifty years ago, before the dams were built, there were rapids in the river and farmland on the banks. Part of the river is in a deep, scenic canyon and we look forward to seeing what recreational opportunities a restored river will offer the region. American Rivers remains committed to working with everyone to find modern solutions to getting grain from SE Washington to the ocean ports, irrigating valuable crops, and generating and transmitting clean energy for the region.”

Background

Last year, the Legislature provided $2 million in its 2023-2025 Operating Budget for a study analyzing clean energy replacement services for the hydroelectric energy now provided by the four lower Snake River dams. The study is looking at how best to replace the power now provided by the dams in ways that meet projected future power demands while diversifying and improving the resilience of the power system and improving reliability and maintaining affordability. Another $5 million was allocated for an analysis of the highway, road and freight rail transportation needs and alternatives to accommodate the remaining freight that still moves by barge through the lower Snake River dams. Barge transportation, notably, has declined by over 50% over the last few decades. Finally, $500,000 in funding was allocated last year for a study looking at how to maintain irrigation services along the lower Snake River should a drawdown occur if breaching were to be authorized.

All of those studies allocated by the Legislature are ongoing and are scheduled to be completed within the next few years.

###

Portland, Ore. – Today, the Western Division of American Fisheries Society (WDAFS) announced that it has passed a resolution acknowledging that based on the best available science, the four lower Snake River dams and reservoirs present a significant threat to the continued existence of remaining wild fish populations.  The threatened fish populations include wild salmon and steelhead, as well as Pacific lamprey and white sturgeon. It goes on to say that if society wishes to save and restore these imperiled species, “then a significant portion of the lower Snake River must be returned to a free-flowing condition by breaching the four lower Snake River dams[.]” The resolution passed with 86.4% approval. Full text of the resolution is available here.

“This resolution simply tells it like it is from the science perspective: if we want to save Snake River salmon as habitats warm, we have to remove the four lower Snake River dams.  There is just no evading that reality,” said Don Chapman, fisheries biologist, former fisheries professor, and consultant to industry, Native Americans, and management agencies.

Said Doug DeHart, former Fisheries Chief at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and fisheries biologist, “WDAFS did a great job applying the best available science to a tough issue.  Let’s hope these scientists’ call for a hard look at removal of the four lower Snake River dams is heeded by this Administration. The future of these fish depends on sound decisions informed by this kind of scientific perspective, but it is also crucial for the future of our salmon fisheries up and down the West Coast, and the jobs and the communities those fish support.”

The resolution follows previous WDAFS assessments in 2004 and 2009 of the federal Biological Opinion regarding Columbia and Snake River salmon policy. Those assessments also indicated that restoration of natural river conditions where the four lower Snake River dams occur has the highest likelihood of recovering wild salmon and steelhead.

“I’m proud to be an AFS member today. To stand up against the political forces trying to silence the science on this issue isn’t easy; this call for dam removal and the previous thorough WDAFS critiques of the current plan show that the members of AFS have strong principles and integrity,” said Chapman.

Established in 1870, the American Fisheries Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of fisheries professionals. Its 3,500-member Western Division covers the 13 western states and British Columbia, including the entire Columbia Basin.

The resolution comes in advance of a Federal judge’s ruling on the legality of the federal government’s current Biological Opinion regarding wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

October 22, 2021

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today issued the following statement in response to U.S. Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Washington Governor Jay Inslee announcing a joint federal-state process on salmon recovery in the Columbia River Basin and the Pacific Northwest:
“Ensuring the long-term viability of the Columbia River Basin is essential to the Pacific Northwest and all who live here,” Wyden and Merkley said. “We look forward to working with Senator Murray and Governor Inslee as they build on previous efforts and bring all interested parties to the table to address salmon recovery, irrigation, dam use, as well as power and transportation needs. In our experience, the Oregon Way of collaboration is the best way to solve these complicated natural resources challenges.”

 For further information, visit freethesnake.com or contact jacob@wildsalmon.org

 For further information, visit freethesnake.com or contact jacob@wildsalmon.org

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