Oregon Public Broadcasting


A low-water year in the Northwest has federal officials in a quandary about how to provide enough water for fish, farms, and hydroelectric power.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already told a federal judge it would prefer to barge fish around the Snake and Columbia river dams, this spring and summer. 

That’s instead of spilling more water over the dams to help fish migrate. But NOAA said that before formalizing that, officials wanted to hear back from a panel of independent scientists. 
 


Late last week, the panel recommended spilling water.

Environmental groups, some Northwest tribes, and the state of Oregon agree with the panel’s position. Those same entities are pitted against the federal government in a long-running legal fight over the management of the hydro dams. 
 


NOAA officials say they’re meeting this week with other federal agencies, as well as tribal and state leaders on both sides of the court case.

If the feds set aside the science panel’s recommendation, and curtail the spilling of water, their court opponents will likely ask a federal judge to overrule them, and order spill.