Fin is about 4 years old and is a Catahoula leopard dog, blue lacy and Australian kelpie mix. He can inspect up to 140 boats per day. (Credit: Courtney Flatt […]Read More
The Columbia River west of the Gorge as it heads toward Portland and out to the Pacific Ocean. (Credit: Amelia Templeton / OPB) WATCH Listen (Runtime 1:01) Read After more […]Read More
For the past 25 years, Greg Patton has spent at least a few moments each month jumping in the Columbia River. (Credit: Courtney Flatt / Northwest News Network) Listen (Runtime […]Read More
A snapshot of the Hanford cleanup site showing the various groundwater plumes across the site. (Credit: U.S. Department of Energy / Office of Environmental Management) Listen (Runtime 1:00) Read A […]Read More
Hat Rock, 2022, acrylic on panel, by Erik Sandgren (American, b. 1952) is on display at the Maryhill Museum until Nov. 15. (Courtesy: Maryhill Museum) Listen (Runtime 0:56) Read The […]Read More
The Northport Bridge over the Columbia River in Washington state near the border with Canada. Portions of the upper Columbia River and its upland areas may be designated a Superfund […]Read More
The poured glass appears emerald green, just before it’s lidded and transported to an export bay at Hanford in southeast Washington. Hanford officials are celebrating this first container of glass […]Read More
The last in-person public meeting about Hanford cleanup was in Richland in 2019. (Courtesy of Washington State Department of Ecology) Listen (Runtime :56) Read The public can ask questions and […]Read More
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientists Rochelle Labiosa (right) and Lil Herger examine the Columbia River for toxic algae as Jason Pappani leans over to reach into the water. (Credit: Rajah […]Read More
Yakama Nation biologist Dave’y Lumley shows Aleeyah McJoe, 7, an adult lamprey at the Yakama Nation’s Willamette Falls Lamprey Celebration. (Credit: Courtney Flatt / Northwest News Network) Listen (Runtime 0:59) […]Read More
Children play recently at Howard Amon park in Richland, near a sign warning of toxic algae. (Credit: Anna King / Northwest News Network.) Read The Environmental Protection Agency will begin […]Read More
John Reilly, 29, Post Falls, Idaho and Shannon Rydeen, 26 of Spokane at the Gorge in June. Rydeen said it was terrifying recently to be stuck inside the concert venue […]Read More
El sol apenas comenzaba a salir sobre el río Columbia en Bridgeport, Washington, cuando un pescador Colville capturó el primer salmón de la temporada.Read More
The 324 Building on the Hanford Site (Courtesy: U.S. Department of Energy) Read A creepy old building used for 30 years to research radioactive materials from 1966 to 1996 has […]Read More
Several low-activity waste containers sit at Hanford, while one high-level waste canister lays in the foreground. [Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Ecology.] Read A massive melter intended to help […]Read More
Jordan Ashue, 18, says he was surprised by how long it will take to clean up portions of Hanford. Credit: Annie Warren / NWPB Listen (Runtime 4:00) Read On a […]Read More
Ira Stevenson preps salmon filets for the salmon bake after a First Salmon ceremony at Chief Joseph dam in north central Washington. (Credit: Courtney Flatt.) Listen (Runtime 4:04) Read The […]Read More
Salmon advocates want negotiators to consider salmon and the Columbia River’s ecosystem as a part of an agreement between the U.S. and Canada.Read More
Phil Ridgon Yakama Nation Listen (Runtime 2:19) Read In Richland, a Causeway that extends out to Bateman Island blocks the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima. For the Yakama Nation, […]Read More
Listen (Runtime 1:18) Read The Yakama Nation hosted an event at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia rivers in Richland to celebrate Tribal heritage and culture. The event also […]Read More
Rochelle Hill and Miss Galaxy E-350 Hydro Listen (Runtime 1:16) Read This week marks the 56th Columbia Cup Race in the Tri-Cities. The Hydroplane races are one of the largest […]Read More
People take boat tours throught the Columbia River during the Hanford Journey, to celebrate cleanup advocacy. Credit: Bear Sky Media. Read As the Hanford cleanup budget has been reduced in […]Read More
The Columbia River has long divided the two halves of Washington's cross-state Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. Now, a rebuilt rail trestle over the river south of Vantage connects the two sides making it easier for cyclists, horse riders and hikers to undertake a spectacular east-west journey.Read More
Columbia River fish could have another challenge to their ecosystem. Growing numbers of American shad could challenge salmon and steelhead.Read More
A longstanding court battle over the federal government’s plan to manage dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers could be on hold until next summer.Read More
Pets dead or sick after coming in contact with Columbia River water near the Tri-Cities, Wash. Now health officials have confirmed the culprit, Anatoxin-a in toxic algae.Read More
The Upper Columbia United Tribes are working together to prove salmon can be reintroduced – and can survive – in the waters above Grand Coulee. Read More
Military cleanups, federal Superfund sites, firefighter training facilities — all are among reasons cited by Chemical Waste Management, or CWM, to expand its hazardous waste operation outside the Columbia River town of Arlington.Read More
Warmer winter weather, more rainfall and less snow will contribute to significantly increased flooding in the Columbia River Basin this century due to climate change, new research says.Read More
Washington’s salmon are “teetering on the brink of extinction,” according to a new report. It says the state must change how it’s responding to climate change and the growing number of people in Washington. Read More
A lot of freshly harvested wheat bound for Portland, Oregon, could stack up on the Columbia River system soon because an old guy wire has snapped on the Snake River’s Lower Monumental Dam. Read More
Water temperatures are expected to increase as the climate warms. Rivers saw a glimpse of what the future could hold five summers ago, when low water flows and hot temperatures killed thousands of salmon.Read More
NWPB staff are managing to get as much work done as possible, but have also found time for at-home projects, hobbies, cooking and creative writing. Here are some things we’ve been up to. Read More
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration laid out a range of six alternatives in a draft environmental impact statement. The most controversial measure would have been to remove or alter the four Lower Snake River dams.Read More
Crews from multiple state agencies responded Monday to reports of a 38-foot tugboat that has sunken in the Columbia River. According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the tugboat reportedly has 750 gallons of diesel on board.Read More
The Oregon Department of Energy has issued a notice of violation to a hazardous waste facility for accepting more than 2 million pounds of radioactive materials east of the Columbia River Gorge.Read More
For years, engineers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have worked to design a hydroelectric turbine that’s safer for fish. They’ve recently installed a new design that’s improving energy efficiency and improving fish survival along the Snake River, with plans to upgrade more turbines over the next several years.Read More
A new energy storage project is in the works near eastern Washington’s Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia River. The project is expected to bring construction jobs to the region. But the nearby Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation worry it would harm important cultural areas.Read More
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Environmental Protection Agency must do more to protect Columbia basin salmon and steelhead from dangerously warm river temperatures.Read More
The U.S. House voted on Monday to pay compensation to the tribe for its losses when Grand Coulee Dam was built in the 1930s and 1940s.Read More
The Columbia River Treaty is costing U.S. ratepayers and public utility districts too much. That was the broad sentiment at a sometimes-tense town hall Monday about ongoing treaty negotiations. At the Richland meeting Monday night, negotiating officials laid out the complicated back-and-forth between the U.S. and Canada.Read More
Peter Marbach says he wanted to use his photography to tell the story of the Columbia River, to move from purely landscape images to a more social justice-driven book. To do that, he needed help -- from the First Nations communities most affected by the development of dams along the river.Read More
For the increased flows to occur, water will be released more than 850 river-miles northeast of Bonneville Dam. The water is then captured and released as needed to keep the salmon redds, or nests, underwater.Read More
The environmental group Columbia Riverkeeper has sued dam operators along the Columbia and Snake rivers. They hope to reduce oil spills, require operators to monitor how much oil is leaking into the water and ask dam managers to look into using eco-friendly oil. Read More
A $2 billion methanol project proposed for the Lower Columbia River town of Kalama, Washington, hit a new roadblock Friday, when the Washington Department of Ecology said the environmental review did not adequately assess its greenhouse gas emissions and contributions to climate change.Read More
A critical navigation lock on the lower Columbia River is expected to reopen this weekend, between 10 PM Friday and 10 AM Saturday, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Read More
The Northwest’s soft white wheat harvest is in full swing, but that grain is going nowhere fast. That’s because of an emergency repair to a lock at Bonneville Dam on the Lower Columbia River.Read More
A port on the Lower Columbia River has approved a controversial lease for a biofuels project. The county says it will bring jobs to the area. Some environmental groups are concerned about previous deals gone bad involving the project’s backers.Read More
Three Northwest states’ request to lethally remove sea lions from the Columbia River is now open for public comment. Read More
Salmon are now swimming in the upper Columbia River for the first time in decades. For regional Native tribes, Friday’s ceremonial fish release is a big step toward catching fish in traditional waters. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the first salmon was released since 1955 into the Columbia River above Chief Joseph Dam.Read More
