Oregon Public Broadcasting

The federal government has submitted its latest revised plan for running the hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers while preserving imperiled salmon.

The plans have been at the heart of a court case pitting the state of Oregon, environmental groups, and a few Indian tribes against Washington, Idaho, other Indian tribes, and the federal government.

The plan the Obama Administration submitted Thursday is the latest revision of a Bush-era river plan. The feds have called it an "insurance" policy for the earlier plan, in the event that salmon numbers plummet.

Portland judge, James Redden, has already asked the feds take that "insurance plan" back once, on mostly procedural grounds.

Bruce Suzumoto with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the latest version satisfies the procedural questions, double-checks the science and makes some improvements.

Bruce Suzumoto: "Looking at the new information, along with these additional actions that help resolve some of the uncertainty regarding climate change, we feel comfortable with our original conclusions."

Environmental groups who sued over the Bush-era plan are no happier with the amended version that the Obama Administration submitted Thursday.

Business groups applauded the latest plan as a step toward resolving the long-standing court case.