Trump Administration Blocked from Changing Columbia Basin Dams

The Trump administration was prevented from changing a hydropower dam operation in the Pacific Northwest after a federal judge ruled the endangered salmon face a “dire and immediate” threat from the proposed plan.

The Federal Columbia River Power System will increase spill levels after the US District Court for the District of Oregon said Wednesday the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration “intends to make significant changes to FCRPS operations in the wrong direction.”

Judge Michael Simon’s preliminary injunction is the latest chapter in a decades-long battle between environmental groups, Oregon, the Spokan Tribe, and the Coeur D’Alene Tribe over the dams ...