CWA sent a notice of intent to file suit under the Federal Endangered Species Act to the BLM, NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding management of livestock grazing on the Wild and Scenic John Day River in central Oregon. The litigation would address the need to protect Salmon and bull trout habitat in the river from water quality problems arising from grazing on federal lands affecting the interest of the Warm Springs Indian Tribe.   (Project Funded by the Jay Kinney Foundation)

PROTECTING SALMON AND CULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE SNOQUALMIE INDIAN TRIBE OF WASHINGTON

CWA will file an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the Western Environmental Law Center’s appeal of a FERC order that approved Pacific Sound and Energy’s re-licensing application for PSE’s hydropower facility license on the Snoqualmie River over the protests of the Snoqualmie Tribe of Northwestern Washington. The Center has filed several requests for intervention and rehearing with FERC regarding the re-licensing on behalf of the Tribe which maintains that the facility will negatively impact salmon and culture resources in the river.

PROTECTING ENDANGERED SALMON ON THE KLAMATH RIVER – YUROK TRIBE OF CALIORNIA

CWA attorneys co-counseled with Berkey, Williams, et al of Berkeley, California, to represent the Yurok Tribe before the Portland Public Utilities Commission on a request by Pacific Power and Light to increase power rates for water diversions on the Klamath River. The Tribe along with other local tribes supports the request, which it believes will encourage farmers to pump less water from the river needed by endangered salmon. The Tribe ultimately dropped its opposition to the rate subsidy in exchange for the irrigator’s promise to consider dam removal as part of settlement negotiations regarding the relicensing of the Klamath Dam by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

COLUMBIA RIVER INITIATIVE

In order to study, protect and enhancement of the quality of the Columbia River and its ecosystem resources, the National Academies of Science (NAS) completed Managing the Columbia River – Instream Flows, Water Withdrawals, and Salmon Survival, which is a comprehensive half-million dollar study commissioned by former Governor Locke conducted over a fifteen-month period in 2003 – 2004. The NAS report provides solid evidence that the Columbia River ecosystem is today in peril. CWA is encouraging the legislature and the State Department of Ecology to heed the warning signs of coming water scarcity and increasing water quality problems, and to attempt to address these issues through a new management system. Last fall, CWA coordinated its comments on the initiative with the environmental and tribal groups through conference calls and meetings. In addition, CWA filed proposed principles and draft legislation with the Department of Ecology and the state legislature recommending that existing law requiring the protection of instream flows be implemented.  

PUC RATES CASE AND THE KLAMATH TRIBES OF OREGON

CWA is in communication with organizations such as the Klamath Tribe, the Klamath River Inter-Tribal Fish & Water Commission (KRITFWC) and the Oregon Natural Resources Council, groups that are working with the Northern California Tribe peoples in the region on environmental issues involving the PUC rate increase and the relicensing of the SP/PPL dams on the Klamath River. Through the 2^nd Annual Water Rights Conference in Eugene, Oregon on October 21-22, 2005, CWA held dialogue with officials of SP/PPL and other corporations that are directly involved in energy development on reservations, concerning environmental standards and progress along those lines.  In December 2005, CWA sent a letter to the Oregon Water Resources department in support of Water Watch of Oregon’s October 18, 2005 which was a follow-up to the “Petition to Withdraw the Waters of the Klamath River Basin from Further Appropriation or to Classify Klamath Waters to Restrict Further Appropriation” (Petition) considered by the Oregon Water Resources Commission (Commission) at its July 2005 meeting.

CRI ECONOMIC ANALYSIS DRAFT REPORT

CWA provided comments on a recent settlement agreement between the Benton County Water Conservancy Board and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). The settlement agreement largely leaves tribes and the public out of the process for determining the “Annual Consumptive Quantity” (ACQ) of water right diversions in the Benton County area. The settlement agreement is significant because it could set a precedent for determining how much water irrigators may divert from critical salmon and other fisheries throughout the state of Washington.  In October 2005, DOE approved the program guidance for Determining Irrigation Efficiency and Consumptive Use. According to the state DOE “staff will follow the guidance when issuing new water rights for irrigation purposes, when conducting tentative determinations of existing irrigation water rights, when evaluating trust water right applications, and in other situations when determining irrigation efficiency and the consumptive use associated with irrigation is necessary. The guidance closely followed the settlement agreement. CWA is watching DOE for the issuance of an Request of Examination that would serve as a test case to challenge the guidelines before the Washing State Water Pollution Control Board.

FIGHTING A NEW MEASURE 37 CLAIM, MARR RANCH, JOSEPH OREGON

The owners of the Marr Ranch subdivision property south of Joseph, Oregon K & B Limited Family Partnership filed a $1 million measure 37 compensation claim in early January of 2005. CWA, the Nez Perce Tribe and others submitted comments on the application, which would allow proposed development adjacent to the gravesite of the father of famous Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph.