The world's largest river restoration project is underway as two dams are demolished on Washington's Elwha River. Sightline Director Alan Durning pieced together this time lapse video using webcam shots of the Glines Canyon Dam being breached in four places Oct. 3-6: Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Fish & Wildlife, Dam removal, Dams, Elwha River, Sightline Institute

I talked with Dave Ponganis of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about how dams on the Columbia River affect water temperature and what his agency does to keep the water at cool enough for threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. Continue reading →

Filed under: Fish & Wildlife, Dams, Salmon, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

I try to pay attention to what’s happening on the Columbia River. And I thought I had a handle on things generally. But I didn’t know that the river has been exceeding the temperature limit under the Clean Water Act for more than a decade. Did you know that? Continue reading →

Filed under: Water, Columbia River Basin, Dams, Salmon

In an opinion issued today, Judge James Redden made a point to burn federal agencies on the weak aspects of their plans to offset the environmental impacts of the Columbia River hydropower system. I wanted to list a few of his most barbed remarks. But as Michael Milstein of Bonneville Power Administration pointed out, the judge left the most essential ... Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Fish & Wildlife, Water, Columbia River Basin, Dams, Salmon

The federal agencies that built the rejected dam mitigation plan (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation) released a joint statement suggesting Judge Redden's ruling isn't the end of the world. They say they're grateful to have until 2014 to work on a better plan, thought they will be considering an appeal: Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Fish & Wildlife, Columbia River Basin, Dams, Salmon

In a 24-page opinion released today, Judge James Redden rejected the federal plan for managing Columbia River dams to protect salmon. In the opinion, he called the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's conclusion that the hydropower system will not jeopardize the survival of protected salmon and steelhead "arbitrary and capricious." And he threw in some zingers, too (stay tuned). Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Fish & Wildlife, Columbia River Basin, Dams, Salmon

Landowners on Central Oregon’s Deschutes River and its tributaries would have at least 12 years without facing water-diversion limits or other restrictions triggered by the presence of a newly reintroduced steelhead that’s on the endangered species list. Continue reading →

Filed under: Water, Dams, Deschutes River, Fisheries

An intriguing question has come up in the power struggle between hydropower and wind energy in the Northwest: Continue reading →

Filed under: Renewable energy, Bonneville Power Administration, Dams, Hydropower, Wind energy, Wind vs. Water

Wind energy advocates at the nonprofit Renewable Northwest Project issued a statement last week that hints at a legal fight brewing between the wind industry and hydropower managers. It stems from Bonneville Power Administration's decision to curtail wind turbines when there's too much spring runoff in the Columbia River Basin. The rub is that BPA decided not to compensate wind ... Continue reading →

Filed under: Renewable energy, Bonneville Power Administration, Dams, Wind energy, Wind vs. Water

Continue reading →

Filed under: Renewable energy, Bonneville Power Administration, Dams, Hydropower, Salmon, Wind energy, Wind vs. Water