Category – Fish and wildlife

The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement represents a series of commitments between the federal government and regional entities.

At its January meeting, the Council voted to recommend that Bonneville fund $19M in requests for nonrecurring maintenance of fish screens in FY2025-FY2027.

Staff presented progress on the Fish and Wildlife Program, including tracking positive trends in total abundance in the Columbia River Basin and an increase in salmon and steelhead migrating past Bonneville Dam. 

The Tucannon River – a tributary of the Snake River flowing out of the Blue Mountains – sustains the only remaining population of spring Chinook in the lower Snake, which was listed as threatened under the ESA in 1992.

The Council, the CRITFC, and NOAA invite nominations by January 31 to establish a pool of qualified candidates interested in potential appointment to the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) and/or the Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP).

BPA and IDFG reported on the success of the project, with plans for ongoing stewardship.

Representatives from BPA, the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, the Columbia Land Trust, and the Columbia River Estuary Taskforce presented on habitat restoration projects and ongoing research in the estuary.

Last September, quagga mussel larvae were detected in the Snake River near Twin Falls, Idaho during routine monitoring conducted by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, the first time they had been found in the basin. Keeping them out of the basin will be a year-round, full-time effort.

Members of the federal negotiating team presented to the Council on the recently released agreement in principle to modernize the Columbia River Treaty.

The Willamette Bi-Op Habitat Restoration Project and John Day Watershed Restoration Project are prime examples of local coordination towards improving fish and wildlife habitat.