[seawallrunner]

I read this on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's site... wondering if there are any environmental issues being raised South of our border as well, regarding these new initiatives. Where would I find more information regarding these dams, environmental assessments and the like? CBC article here Environmentalist sounds alarm over new U.S. dams Last updated Apr 21 2006 11:28 AM PDT CBC News A U.S. environmental lawyer warns that Washington state is seriously considering the construction of more dams in the Columbia River basin – a move that could have implications for B.C. Rachael Paschal Osborn of the Spokane-based Columbia Institute for Water Policy said a bill recently passed by state legislators encourages exploration for new water supply areas, and provides up to $200 million in funding. "The focus of the bill is actually on building dams and reservoirs, and off-site channels that are adjacent to the Columbia River," she said. There are already 14 dams along the river, which runs from B.C. into Washington state, creating vast reservoirs on both sides of the border. "There are no sites left on the main stem," she said. "There are no sites left on the main tributaries, and so they're really picking off these last little habitats and pockets." Paschal Osborn said the state is considering a dam in one of those pockets – at Moses Coulee, about 200 kilometres south of the border. She is concerned that any new dams could harm fish stocks and reduce the overall water supply as huge amounts of water are diverted from the main body of the river. She said it's too early to say what effects a new dam there would have upstream. But she thinks Canadian officials will want to be involved in Washington state's plans as soon as possible.

[Dogpatch]

Yikes - no I hadn't seen anything about this in the Seattle press. Damming Moses Coulee would be a real disaster, though. It's an amazing beautiful place. Maybe someone else on this site is more tuned in, and will know something about these plans.

[Rich Baldwin]

I didn't notice a dam bill getting passed this year, though there was a major water rights bill. I wonder if that is what the article was about?

[kiliki]

This has been much discussed on KUOW, our local NPR station.

[mpaul_hansen]

RE: Multiple Use water projects ...an involved and complex issue It may be a site-specific issue(s), but what appears not to be mentioned in the press is consideration of re-visiting flood control operating regimes on the Columbia and Snake River systems. This was reviewed recently by the NW Power Planning Council. And how this might interact with fisheries needs. The flood of 1948 essentially wiped-out the town of ??? in Wash. And ultimately lead to the PNW Coordinated Agreement of 1964 of which Canada/BC was a party. Perhaps one option that may be considered [not mentioned/emphasized in the press] is storing water in wet water years when there is a surplus to some degree. For release & use later, in combination with other measures - conservation, more efficient use of irrigation, less water intensive crops, buy-out of water rights, etc. PS understand through the water resource "grapevine" and friends at Wash ST DOE, water storage proposals/studies are also underway in Western Washington - ie at existing reservoirs, etc.

[Slugman]

That PI article was pretty good. It seems there are benefits and drawbacks to these dam projects. I'd go for the idea of negotiating water storage with Canada as the article suggests is a possibility. One problem, though, is that those Canadians drink a lot of beer, and beer-drinkers take lots of whizzes, so we don't want whiz-water coming south to us!