Columbia River Basin

On Thursday, a coalition of tribes, environmental groups and the U.S. government asked a federal judge for another year to craft a long-term plan that protects fish while safeguarding the region’s power system.

Damming the powerful waters of the Columbia River was a boon for cheap, clean electricity. But the fish that swam those waters are dying out. And the agency in charge isn’t stopping that.

Researchers at Portland State University will spend the next year testing the air and water in urban and rural areas to learn more about where microplastic pollution is coming from across the Pacific Northwest.

Bringing salmon back to the Upper Columbia River will take a lot of time and a lot of money.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit over dams in the Columbia River Basin are asking the court to order federal agencies to spill more water over the dams this spring to help threatened and endangered fish.