News and Updates

Federal agencies prepare a SEIS to update the Columbia River System Operations

From Idaho Rivers United  |  1/14/2025

Lower Granite dam on the Snake River. Photo credit: IRU staff In December the federal government announced its intent to reexamine the impacts to imperiled salmon and steelhead populations from the fourteen-dam Federal Columbia River System, which includes the four Lower Snake River Dams (LSRDs). The announcement was made by the Army Corps of Engineers […]

CSPA Sues California over Operations of the State Water Project

From California Sportfishing Protection Alliance  |  1/1/2025

On November 26, 2024, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance sued the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) over the “Incidental Take Permit” (ITP) for the operation of the State Water Project. CSPA’s Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate and Complaint for Declarative and Injunctive Relief alleges violations of […]

FERC Holds PG&E Accountable for 2023 Butte Canal Failure

From California Sportfishing Protection Alliance  |  11/24/2024

On November 19, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a letter to PG&E about a major canal break and two canal blockages in 2023 at PG&E’s DeSabla-Centerville Hydroelectric Project on Butte Creek. The canal break had extremely damaging environmental effects. FERC’s letter called the canal break “preventable” and deemed it a violation of […]

Monthly Newsletter: Exploring FERC-Exempt Hydro Projects: Small-Scale Hydropower with Big Impacts

From Hydropower Reform Coalition  |  11/19/2024

Enacted in 1978 to encourage greater use of domestic and renewable energy sources, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) allows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to exempt certain small hydroelectric projects from its licensing requirements permanently. The act aimed to promote domestic energy independence by fast-tracking the construction of smaller projects and, presumably, […]

NID Withdraws Centennial Dam Proposal After SYRCL’s Decade-Long Opposition

From South Yuba River Citizens League  |  9/25/2024

On September 25th, the Nevada Irrigation District voted on the future of their proposed Centennial Dam project, a $1 billion project that SYRCL has rallied the community in opposition to since its inception. In August of 2014, the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) began planning to construct a new 275-foot-tall dam and reservoir on the Bear […]

The Klamath Dam Removals: A Story of People and Possibility

From American Rivers  |  9/9/2024

As I stood on a bridge and looked upstream along the Klamath River, I felt confused. For over 15 years, I had stood in the same stop and gazed on the earthen face of Iron Gate Dam. But on this day, I saw…space. Framing the edges of that space, I saw canyon walls, river bed, […]

Monthly Newsletter: Klamath Dam Removals: A Tale of the Power of Collaboration and Persistence

From Hydropower Reform Coalition  |  8/30/2024

A river basin once split in half for more than a century will be reconnected this fall with the completion of the nation’s largest dam removal and river restoration project. Over the past two years, four dams were removed from the Klamath River: J.C. Boyle in southern Oregon, and Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, […]

Klamath reconnected: The four dams are gone

From Trout Unlimited  |  8/28/2024

Big things happen when committed people decide that failure is not an option

The Klamath River Flows Free for First Time in 100+ Years

From California Trout  |  8/28/2024

The Klamath River is free flowing for the first time in over one hundred years! Today, the cofferdam was broken at the former Iron Gate Dam site, marking the completion of the construction phase of the largest dam removal and river restoration project in U.S. history. Dam removal unlocks access to hundreds of miles of […]

PG&E Withdraws Application for Transfer of Hydropower Assets

From California Sportfishing Protection Alliance  |  8/12/2024

On May 10, 2024, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) reported that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) had denied an application for the transfer of Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) hydropower assets to a subsidiary, Pacific Generation. The CPUC found that PG&E’s application failed to meet “even the minimal public interest standard.” The CPUC, […]