The Northport Bridge over the Columbia River in Washington state near the border with Canada. Portions of the upper Columbia River and its upland areas may be designated a Superfund… Continue Reading EPA Read More
The poured glass appears emerald green, just before it’s lidded and transported to an export bay at Hanford in southeast Washington. Hanford officials are celebrating this first container of glass… Continue Reading Hanford’s Read More
The last in-person public meeting about Hanford cleanup was in Richland in 2019. (Courtesy of Washington State Department of Ecology) Listen (Runtime :56) Read The public can ask questions and… Continue Read More
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientists Rochelle Labiosa (right) and Lil Herger examine the Columbia River for toxic algae as Jason Pappani leans over to reach into the water. (Credit: Rajah… Continue Reading Big trouble on the Read More
Yakama Nation biologist Dave’y Lumley shows Aleeyah McJoe, 7, an adult lamprey at the Yakama Nation’s Willamette Falls Lamprey Celebration. (Credit: Courtney Flatt / Northwest News Network) Listen (Runtime 0:59)… Continue Read More
Children play recently at Howard Amon park in Richland, near a sign warning of toxic algae. (Credit: Anna King / Northwest News Network.) Read The Environmental Protection Agency will begin… Read More
John Reilly, 29, Post Falls, Idaho and Shannon Rydeen, 26 of Spokane at the Gorge in June. Rydeen said it was terrifying recently to be stuck inside the concert venue… Continue Reading Is the Gorge safe? Trouble and Read More
El sol apenas comenzaba a salir sobre el río Columbia en Bridgeport, Washington, cuando un pescador Colville capturó el primer salmón de la temporada. Continue Reading Para las tribus, la bienvenida del Read More
The 324 Building on the Hanford Site (Courtesy: U.S. Department of Energy) Read A creepy old building used for 30 years to research radioactive materials from 1966 to 1996 has… Continue Reading Feds Read More
Several low-activity waste containers sit at Hanford, while one high-level waste canister lays in the foreground. [Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Ecology.] Read A massive melter intended to help… Continue Reading Read More
Jordan Ashue, 18, says he was surprised by how long it will take to clean up portions of Hanford. Credit: Annie Warren / NWPB Listen (Runtime 4:00) Read On a… Continue Reading ‘It’s going to take all of us’: Yakama Read More
Ira Stevenson preps salmon filets for the salmon bake after a First Salmon ceremony at Chief Joseph dam in north central Washington. (Credit: Courtney Flatt.) Listen (Runtime 4:04) Read The… Continue Reading For tribes, Read More
Salmon advocates want negotiators to consider salmon and the Columbia River’s ecosystem as a part of an agreement between the U.S. and Canada. Continue Reading Salmon advocates ask to include healthy ecosystems in Columbia River Read More
Phil Ridgon Yakama Nation Listen (Runtime 2:19) Read In Richland, a Causeway that extends out to Bateman Island blocks the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima. For the Yakama Nation,… Continue Reading Bateman Island Causeway: UpdateRead More
Listen (Runtime 1:18) Read The Yakama Nation hosted an event at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia rivers in Richland to celebrate Tribal heritage and culture. The event also… Continue Reading Honoring Chamna With Yakama NationRead More
Rochelle Hill and Miss Galaxy E-350 Hydro Listen (Runtime 1:16) Read This week marks the 56th Columbia Cup Race in the Tri-Cities. The Hydroplane races are one of the largest… Continue Reading For Trans Hydroplane Racer The Columbia Cup Is Read More
People take boat tours throught the Columbia River during the Hanford Journey, to celebrate cleanup advocacy. Credit: Bear Sky Media. Read As the Hanford cleanup budget has been reduced in… Continue Reading Advocates Call For Read More
The Columbia River has long divided the two halves of Washington's cross-state Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. Now, a rebuilt rail trestle over the river south of Vantage connects the two sides making it easier for cyclists, horse riders and hikers to undertake a spectacular east-west journey. Read More
Columbia River fish could have another challenge to their ecosystem. Growing numbers of American shad could challenge salmon and steelhead. Continue Reading Will A Shad Horde Take Over The Columbia River?Read More
A longstanding court battle over the federal government’s plan to manage dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers could be on hold until next summer. Continue Reading 20-Year Legal Battle Over Salmon To Be Paused Until Next SummerRead More
Pets dead or sick after coming in contact with Columbia River water near the Tri-Cities, Wash. Now health officials have confirmed the culprit, Anatoxin-a in toxic algae. Continue Reading Six Dogs Sickened Or Dead Near Read More
The Upper Columbia United Tribes are working together to prove salmon can be reintroduced – and can survive – in the waters above Grand Coulee. Continue Reading Tribes Team With Northwest Researchers To Show Read More
Military cleanups, federal Superfund sites, firefighter training facilities — all are among reasons cited by Chemical Waste Management, or CWM, to expand its hazardous waste operation outside the Columbia River town of Arlington. Continue Reading Read More
Warmer winter weather, more rainfall and less snow will contribute to significantly increased flooding in the Columbia River Basin this century due to climate change, new research says. Continue Reading Study: Warmer Weather Read More
Washington’s salmon are “teetering on the brink of extinction,” according to a new report. It says the state must change how it’s responding to climate change and the growing number of people in Washington. Continue Read More
A lot of freshly harvested wheat bound for Portland, Oregon, could stack up on the Columbia River system soon because an old guy wire has snapped on the Snake River’s Lower Monumental Dam. Continue Reading Lower Read More
Water temperatures are expected to increase as the climate warms. Rivers saw a glimpse of what the future could hold five summers ago, when low water flows and hot temperatures killed thousands of salmon. Continue Reading Read More
NWPB staff are managing to get as much work done as possible, but have also found time for at-home projects, hobbies, cooking and creative writing. Here are some things we’ve been up to. Continue Reading What NWPB Staff Are Up To While Staying At HomeRead More
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration laid out a range of six alternatives in a draft environmental impact statement. The most controversial measure would have been to remove or alter the four Lower Snake River dams. Read More
Crews from multiple state agencies responded Monday to reports of a 38-foot tugboat that has sunken in the Columbia River. According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the tugboat reportedly has 750 gallons of diesel on board. Read More
The Oregon Department of Energy has issued a notice of violation to a hazardous waste facility for accepting more than 2 million pounds of radioactive materials east of the Columbia River Gorge. Continue Reading Read More
For years, engineers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have worked to design a hydroelectric turbine that’s safer for fish. They’ve recently installed a new design that’s improving energy efficiency and improving fish survival along the Snake River, with plans to upgrade more turbines over the next several years. Read More
A new energy storage project is in the works near eastern Washington’s Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia River. The project is expected to bring construction jobs to the region. But the nearby Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation worry it would harm important cultural areas. Read More
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Environmental Protection Agency must do more to protect Columbia basin salmon and steelhead from dangerously warm river temperatures. Continue Reading Federal 9th Read More
The U.S. House voted on Monday to pay compensation to the tribe for its losses when Grand Coulee Dam was built in the 1930s and 1940s. Continue Reading U.S. House And Senate Pass Bills To Compensate Spokane Tribe For Read More
The Columbia River Treaty is costing U.S. ratepayers and public utility districts too much. That was the broad sentiment at a sometimes-tense town hall Monday about ongoing treaty negotiations. At the Richland meeting Monday night, negotiating officials laid out the complicated back-and-forth between the U.S. and Canada. Read More
Peter Marbach says he wanted to use his photography to tell the story of the Columbia River, to move from purely landscape images to a more social justice-driven book. To do that, he needed help -- from the First Nations communities most affected by the development of dams along the river. Read More
For the increased flows to occur, water will be released more than 850 river-miles northeast of Bonneville Dam. The water is then captured and released as needed to keep the salmon redds, or nests, underwater. Continue Reading Read More
The environmental group Columbia Riverkeeper has sued dam operators along the Columbia and Snake rivers. They hope to reduce oil spills, require operators to monitor how much oil is leaking into the water and ask dam managers to look into using eco-friendly oil. Read More
A $2 billion methanol project proposed for the Lower Columbia River town of Kalama, Washington, hit a new roadblock Friday, when the Washington Department of Ecology said the environmental review did not adequately assess its greenhouse gas emissions and contributions to climate change. Read More
A critical navigation lock on the lower Columbia River is expected to reopen this weekend, between 10 PM Friday and 10 AM Saturday, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Continue Reading Critical Read More
The Northwest’s soft white wheat harvest is in full swing, but that grain is going nowhere fast. That’s because of an emergency repair to a lock at Bonneville Dam on the Lower Columbia River. Continue Reading Bonneville Dam Lock Closure Read More
A port on the Lower Columbia River has approved a controversial lease for a biofuels project. The county says it will bring jobs to the area. Some environmental groups are concerned about previous deals gone bad involving the project’s backers. Read More
Three Northwest states’ request to lethally remove sea lions from the Columbia River is now open for public comment. Continue Reading Public Can Comment On Killing Of Sea Lions In Columbia River Until October 29Read More
Salmon are now swimming in the upper Columbia River for the first time in decades. For regional Native tribes, Friday’s ceremonial fish release is a big step toward catching fish in traditional waters. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the first salmon was released since 1955 into the Columbia River above Chief Joseph Dam. Read More
Cormorants by the thousands have taken up residence under the landmark Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. Their poop can corrode the bridge and that is unacceptable to the Oregon and Washington transportation departments. But what actions to take against the protected birds and whose responsibility that is are up in the air. Read More
A team of researchers presented their findings on Tuesday to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. In short, they said, salmon can survive in the upper reaches of the Columbia Basin, and fish passage needs to happen above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams. Read More
The fight to save Columbia River salmon could hinge on a major battle taking place in the basin’s biggest reservoir. It pits biologists against a fish: The invasive northern pike. Continue Reading The Fight Is On To Save Columbia River Read More
Three Washington Native tribes are joining two state agencies and two public utility districts in targeting the northern pike. That’s a big species of fish that’s caught for sport in the upper Midwest, but which fisheries biologists say poses huge potential damage to Northwest salmon runs. Read More
The Douglas County Public Utility District operates Wells Dam on the Columbia River north of Wenatchee. The dam generates a lot of surplus electricity, especially during spring runoff. Quite a few years ago, utility managers hit on the idea of using surplus electricity to split water molecules to make hydrogen. Read More