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Council Spotlight

News about energy and natural resources in the Pacific Northwest

Dry-year Dam Operations Implemented To Protect Fish

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Graph data courtesy of Columbia River DART (2015).

The low runoff in the Columbia River Basin in 2015 doesn’t portend a crisis for hydropower, which is a good thing because dams in the basin provide nearly half of the electricity consumed in the Northwest. Nor is the below-average runoff from a meager snowpack creating problems for salmon and steelhead, thanks to a water-release strategy for the Columbia and Snake rivers that is implemented in dry years. Read more.

Upcoming Meetings

JUNE 23 : System Analysis Advisory Committee Webinar

JUNE 24 : Conservation Resources Advisory Committee

JUNE 26 : Power Committee Webinar

JULY 14-15 : Council Meeting, Spokane

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scenarios

Northwest Energy Future: Efficient, Low-cost, Low Carbon

Preliminary modeling results indicate that the future of electric power in the Northwest is efficient, low-cost, low-carbon, and reliable. In fact, energy efficiency may meet nearly all new load growth for the next 20 years.

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delta

Delta Project Will Restore Habitat, Prevent Erosion In Lake Pend Oreille

Idaho Department of Fish and Game is working to protect the Clark Fork River Delta, an important riparian and wetland habitat for fish and birds in Lake Pend Oreille, from the effects of erosion caused by the operations of two dams, one upstream on the Clark Fork River and the other at the outlet of the lake.

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fish

Catch and Kill: Trying to Reduce Northern Pike in Lake Roosevelt

Northern pike, a voracious predator, are migrating into the upper Columbia River from the north and east, posing a threat to state and tribal efforts to protect and restore native sturgeon and trout species in Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam.

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