Upper Deschutes River is essentially an irrigation cancel for irrigators. Photo George Wuerthner
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will soon decide whether to approve a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the Deschutes River Basin. The HCP was initiated by local irrigators and the city of Prineville who want to maintain their privilege […]
Continue Reading →An article in the November 9th Bend Bulletin reported that due to low water reserves, the Bureau of Reclamation that controls water release from Prineville Reservoir may limit flows in the Crooked River to preserve water for irrigators to the detriment of fish and the Crooked River’s aquatic ecosystem. https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/6666523-151/low-flows-dry-winter-could-spell-trouble-for
In a previous low […]
Continue Reading →Idaho Water Board probably ends 10 year battle over Oneida Narrows dam-
Oneida Narrows is a scenic canyon on the Bear River in SE Idaho. It is already partially filled with a dam and reservoir, but its lower reaches are free, popular for recreation, and has a population of rare Bonneville Cutthroat Trout.
Over its […]
Continue Reading →Agreement ending 100 years of fighting over the uses of the Klamath River’s waters falls to a group of local malcontents-
After many years of fighting over salmon, dams, irrigation water, tribal treaty rights and ocean fishing matters came to an unpleasant head in 2001-2 when VP Dick Cheney sided with irrigators and let 70,000 […]
Continue Reading →Now could the 4 dams clogging the lower Snake River be removed?
The 105 feet high Elwha Dam and the 210 foot high Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha River will soon come down. There was a big celebration at Port Angeles, Washington. I can’t wait to see the return of salmon to this coastal river. […]
Continue Reading →Despite public outcry and negative vote by WY Water Development Commission, cattle assn, county commissions continue to push dam-
Few people seem to like the proposal to build a dam on the upper Green River above Warren Bridge. The state Water Development Commission voted 7-1 against it, but powerful interest groups are trying sidestep public […]
Continue Reading →Harmed by the effects of the Libby Dam, the Kootenai River sturgeon haven’t spawned for 35 years now-
North America’s biggest fish slips toward extinction. By Matthew Brown. Associated Press.
This might sound a little confusing, but apparently the way to reduce the threat of the Green Valley Dam failing after heavy rains is to shore up the Howard Hanson Dam upstream. The article says this will reduce the chances of Green Valley failing to 1 in 25 this winter.
A failure would flood a […]
Continue Reading →Calls Dam Breaching a “Last Resort”
“The administration’s passing reference to dam breaching as a ‘contingency of last resort’ defers all necessary economic, infrastructure and other studies, making this ‘contingency’ an illusion,” said Samuel N. Penney, the chairman of the Nez Perce American Indian Tribe, which has traditionally fished the Columbia.
Continue Reading →The long term effects of global warming, and desertification of the West examined. Exporting the water to the urban areas means exporting the rural areas’ soil to the East.
Livestock grazing, water mining, dams, all serving to desertify the West which ends up blowing, in the form of dust, to the East causing snow to […]
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