"At the center of the dispute are eight dams and reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in the Pacific north-west that have created devastating obstacles for salmon and steelhead unable to breach their deadly turbines or navigate through the large, warm, artificial pools."
"In the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, a landmark salmon recovery plan brokered in late 2023, the federal government committed more than $1bn over a decade to support depleted salmon runs and new investments into clean energy projects in the area to replace the hydropower generated by the dams."
"In a strongly worded ruling, issued late on Wednesday, the Oregon US district court judge Michael Simon rebuked the administration's position and the disappointing history of government avoidance and manipulation instead of sincere efforts at solving the problem, and the evidence presented, which he said was created for the lawsuit and contradicted the scientific record."
Eight dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers create obstacles for salmon and steelhead, with turbines and warm artificial pools causing population declines. Federal agencies, utilities, water managers, and farming organizations opposed reservoir drawdown due to power reliability concerns. A 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement committed over $1 billion for salmon recovery and clean energy investments. The Trump administration withdrew from this agreement, calling it radical environmentalism. An Oregon federal judge issued a strongly worded ruling rejecting the administration's position, criticizing government avoidance and manipulation, and noting that evidence presented contradicted the scientific record. A 2024 Department of Interior report acknowledged dam impacts on salmon populations.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]