Category: Water

Washington state to regulate federal dams on Columbia, Snake to cool hot water, aid salmon

1/31/2019

Seattle Times

Dams and climate change are the leading cause of high temperatures in the Columbia and Snake rivers that are killing salmon, according to an EPA draft analysis. Now the state wants to get involved.

Summer temperatures in portions of the Columbia and Snake rivers are up by 1.5 degrees Celsius since 1960 because of the combined effects of climate change and dams, according to a new draft analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Underwater sensors for monitoring sea life (and where to find them)

12/14/2018

UW News

Paul Gibbs, a mechanical engineer at the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory, inspects the newest Adaptable Monitoring Package, or AMP, before a test in a saltwater pool. AMPs host a series of sensors that allow researchers to continuously monitor animals underwater.

Harvesting power from the ocean, through spinning underwater turbines or bobbing wave-energy converters, is an emerging frontier in renewable energy.

New tool lets citizens help reveal toxic cause of salmon death

10/30/2018

The WSU Insider -

Salmon exposed to toxic stormwater runoff can die in a matter of hours, and scientists are asking for Puget Sound area residents’ help in identifying affected streams to study the phenomenon.

Construction of region’s largest-ever infrastructure project to have major economic impact in Pensacola.

3/16/2017

The Pulse ~

The largest public infrastructure project in the history of Northwest Florida is off to a big start, with staging and preliminary construction to replace the 57-year-old Pensacola Bay Bridge already beginning.

On the banks of Bayou Chico west of downtown Pensacola, towering cranes have arrived, becoming part of the skyline as preparations are underway along the eastern shore of the waterfront.

Recovery plan for Cook Inlet belugas focuses on biggest threats

1/5/2017

Alaskan Dispatch ~

A new recovery plan for endangered Cook Inlet belugas focuses on counteracting what federal regulators believe are the biggest threats to Alaska's most urban whales, but none that would stop local economic activity.

Obama blocks new oil, gas drilling in Arctic Ocean

11/18/2016

The Seattle Times ~

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is blocking new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean, handing a victory to environmentalists who say industrial activity in the icy waters will harm whales, walruses and other wildlife and exacerbate global warming.

Ruling forces discussions on breaching Snake River dams to save salmon

10/3/2016

The Oregonian ~

SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal judge is forcing discussion of a radical step to save endangered salmon: taking out four dams on the Lower Snake River.

The public will get a chance to weigh in at meetings throughout the Northwest starting next month.

"Scientists tell us that removing the four Lower Snake dams is the single most important action we could take to restore salmon in the entire Columbia-Snake river basin," said Sam Mace of Save Our Wild Salmon.

Urban Waters Surprisingly Rich In Marine Life Finds High-Tech Sampling

9/16/2016

Northwest Public Radio ~

Researchers from the University of Washington and NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center found the opposite of what they expected when they used a new scientific method to sample the waters of Puget Sound.

Salmon habitat preparation delayed for Yale Reservoir

4/14/2016

The Columbian ~

ARIEL — State and federal fishery officials, along with PacifiCorp, have agreed to delay the preparation of Yale Reservoir and its tributaries for the reintroduction of salmon and steelhead.

PacifiCorp’s federal license to operate Merwin, Yale and Swift hydroelectric dams on the North Fork of the Lewis River calls for the utility to have a downstream fish passage facility at Yale Dam operational by June 26, 2021.

The settlement agreement between PacifiCorp and the fish agencies, Forest Service, Indian tribes and local governments also requires a “habitat preparation plan’’ beginning five years prior to fish passage.

Last year’s heat wave doomed nearly all Okanogan sockeye salmon

4/13/2016

The Seattle Times ~

Amid last summer’s drought and heat wave, some 98 percent of Okanogan basin sockeye salmon died before they reached upstream spawning grounds, a report presented to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Wednesday says.

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