Bonneville Power Administration

In conversations with people and businesses across the Tri-Cities, you can sense a pall over this government town.At dinners and in hushed calls with…

(Runtime 0:57)A fish hatchery on the Klickitat River has been returned to the Yakama Nation. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officially…

(Runtime 0:56)There’s a transfer happening at Grand Coulee Dam. After years of planning, the Bonneville Power Administration will start running some…

(Runtime 0:52) According to a new federal audit, the Bonneville Power Administration could be losing money because of the way it handles contracts. BPA’s…

(Runtime 1:01) After more than six years of difficult negotiations, the U.S. and Canada have figured out some key points of the Columbia River Treaty, a…

After four years of study, the Record of Decision makes the federal agencies’ preferred option official. Managers and dam supporters say it will benefit salmon, reliable hydropower and the economy. Wild salmon advocates, tribal representatives and renewable energy advocates say this decision will hurt salmon and the orcas that depend on them for food.

If you want to attend public hearings on the federal government’s plan to manage the Columbia and Snake River dams, you’ll have to do it by phone. The previously scheduled in-person meetings are now teleconferences.

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.

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.

Standing on the banks of the Columbia River, near the remnants of Celilo Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, Yakama Nation Chairman JoDe Goudy traced the history of decrees, congressional acts and court cases that led to the damming of the river.