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Council Nears Completion of New Columbia Basin Fish/Wildlife Program with August Spill at Dams a Bone of Contention by Staff Columbia Basin Bulletin, May 17, 2026

Industries want federal judge to scrutinize again increased spilling

At its May meeting this week the Northwest Power and Conservation Council hashed out the few remaining issues in its draft Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. However, the Council members continue to be divided over whether the Program should include August spill for salmon, an issue that one member worried could "unravel" the four-state organization established in 1980 by the Northwest Power Act.

The Council did agree to close out the administrative record for the F&W Program on the last day of its three-day meeting, but even that is weeks later than is normal for closing out the record prior to a Plan approval, according to John Shurts, NWPCC counsel.

One issue this week was whether the final Program should include a change or alteration to the definition of smolt to adult return (SARs). The Council kicked the SARs issue down the road a year, suggesting a task force that will study how the definition of SARs could change.

The most contentious decision yet to be determined by the Council is August spill for fish at Columbia and Snake river dams. The issue is splitting the Council, resulting in Columbia River tribes threatening to go to court if August spill is not included. One member pleaded caution so the issue does not cause the Council to "unravel."

While it's difficult to know the exact wording proposed by Council staff that is resulting in these disagreements – even though Council meetings are public, the notes Council members and staff work from during the meetings are kept confidential – one thing is clear: the eight Council members are split fifty/fifty when it comes to spill. Idaho and Montana are opposed and Oregon and Washington are in favor of late summer spill.

The August spill that is recommended by the Council's Fish and Wildlife staff appears to mirror spill called for in a preliminary injunction recently approved in U.S. District Court in Oregon, but is currently being challenged by federal defendants at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In his closing remarks during Thursday's session when the public was allowed to comment, Donald Sampson, formerly the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission and CTUIR executive director, and hereditary Chief of the Walla Walla Tribe, warned that if the Council cannot make the right decision on spill, then the tribes may need to head back to court.

"When the Council was established, we wondered whether four states could agree to make the right decisions. The (Northwest) Power Act says you need to balance power and fish. At first you didn't and we sued," Sampson told the Council. "We are here again today with a politicized Council. Maybe you need one more member to break the tie," suggesting that ninth member should be a representative from Columbia River tribes.

The Council currently has one tribal member from Oregon, Charles F. Sams III, who most recently served as director of the U.S. National Parks and formerly was CTUIR executive director.

The Council meeting was held May 12 through 14 at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino east of Pendleton, OR. The Casino is owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, a tribe that was well-represented at the meeting.

"We're here to fight for salmon, but it appears this Council won't make that decision on spill and that's too bad," Sampson said. "August spill gives fish the best chance of survival."

"Cutting off August spill is cutting off fish," said Liz Hamilton, executive director at the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association. "This Council is unable to come together on key issues. I had hoped for more."

"I feel like these remarks are directed at me and my position on the Program," said Idaho Council member Ed Schriever, responding to the public comments, which also included Tanya Reardon of Save Our Wild Salmon, Michael Garrity, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Columbia River Policy Lead and Bill Arthur, Sierra Club. Schriever is the former director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

"I do have a deep appreciation of tribal treaty rights and of fish and the relationship they play in the past and in the future," he said. "I don't intend this to be argumentative, but four stocks of Snake River fish are soon to become extinct and none of those fish will benefit from August spill.

"Snake River Fall Chinook may not be where we want them to be (in recovery), but they continue to migrate in September and October. August is not the tail end of the run," he said. "I understand this is an issue and we cannot let it unravel everything we've done."

Council Chair Mike Milburn, representing Montana, concluded the meeting saying "let's dwell on the good things we've done."

Earlier this year, U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon granted to plaintiffs the National Wildlife Federation and others their request for a preliminary injunction that allowed certain small changes in how federal dams are operated for salmon and steelhead protections on the Columbia and Snake rivers. Federal defendants appealed Simon's decision to the Ninth Circuit in late March and asked for a stay of the decision, which the Appeals Court has yet to rule on.

The preliminary injunction approved by Simon includes: beginning in April when spill begins in the rivers, more water will be spilled at eight federal dams during spring, summer and fall/winter to aid the safe passage of juvenile salmon and steelhead, sending more of the fish over the dam rather than through turbines.

In addition, the court ordered the federal dam operators to maintain reservoir operating levels at minimum operating pools, just as the reservoirs were operated last year. Lower reservoir levels help speed juveniles through the slow-moving pools. Both measures, the court said, are "narrowly tailored and essentially maintains the status quo."

At this month's Council meeting, Sampson conceded that an agreement between federal agencies and six Northwest sovereigns did not include late summer spill, but that's because the federal government made other concessions in the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, some of which were in preparation for breaching the four lower Snake River dams, which the tribes support as a way to recover salmon and steelhead in the river.

The 2023 agreement, struck by the Biden Administration with Columbia Basin tribes and the states of Oregon and Washington and the U.S. government, was designed to restore Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead runs to "healthy and abundant levels." Those who supported the agreement touted it as a long-awaited collaborative and funded effort that finally would give restoration of salmon runs in the basin a chance.

The agreement promised increased funding for fisheries projects and infrastructure, a federal-state partnership to analyze replacement of the energy, transportation, irrigation and recreation services provided by four dams on the lower Snake River, and investments in new tribal clean energy projects. However, opposition to the agreement was also strong, with the state of Idaho, public power and commercial river users saying that the agreement would eventually lead to the breaching of the four lower Snake River dams, an action they have opposed.

In a June 12, 2025 memorandum, President Donald J. Trump withdrew the federal commitments that the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement had promised, saying that the agreement "placed concerns about climate change above the Nation's interests in reliable energy resources."

Related Pages:
Fed Judge Grants Stay in Dam Litigation by Eric Barker, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, 2/10/24