Welcome to Columbiana. Columbiana, published by Columbia River Bioregional Education Project, is a leading voice for ecological living in the Pacific Northwest Columbia River Bioregion between the Cascades and Rocky Mountains. The website posts weekly news and events, and tracks more than 80 organizations working for protection of native ecosystems and the evolution of rural communities.

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Renewable
ENERGY

• High Altitude Wind Power Generators (9.26.08)

• Magenn Power Air Rotory Generator SystemSetup Anywhere (9.26.08)

• Laddermill Exploits Energy in Airspace (9.26.08)

at Chesaw - in the Okanogan Highlands

Art Gallery
Refreshments
Special Event Venues

Protecting the Commons

The Okanogan National Forest Plan of 1989 is being revised to reflect the changing health and resources of our public forest lands in Okanogan county.

Having all of the public and private stakeholders sitting down at the table forming a coalition of management requests will not allow special interests to dominate the future of public lands.

For more information click here.

Ehud Olmert's concession

A Public Interest Perspective on the Lake Roosevelt Drawdown Proposal

by Rachael Paschal Osborn
Executive Director, Center for Environmental Law & Policy

The Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP) and Columbia Riverkeeper (CRKß) have appealed water rights granted by the Department of Ecology to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for the Lake Roosevelt Drawdown. CELP & CRK have also filed suit against the Bureau in federal court. Here’s why.

Climate Change: The Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington has conducted the definitive work to date in applying global climate models to predict future hydrologic responses in the Columbia River Basin. As air temperatures rise in this region, snowpack diminishes. Snowpack is a natural “reservoir” of water that feeds the Columbia River and its tributaries during the summer months. Reduced snowpack translates to reduced stream flow. There is substantial debate about whether precipitation will change in the future. Decreased snowpack will also cause decrease in the quantity of water recharging groundwater systems, resulting in a decrease in groundwater discharge to streams. Rising air temperature and decreased groundwater recharge lead to projections that warming stream temperatures will stress coldwater fishes (e.g., endangered salmon).

Glacial Melt: Moreover, widespread glacial retreat is occurring throughout the region. British Columbian scientists are now predicting a loss of up to 90% of B.C. glaciers over the next 150 years. Glaciers in the Columbia Icefields form the headwaters of the Columbia River. Glacial melt may have a near-term effect of increasing summer flows, but will reduce summer flows in the longterm. Loss of glaciers will profoundly affect when and how the river flows.

Columbia River Treaty: Many British Columbians are dissatisfied with the operation of the Canadian reservoirs on the Columbia River, created by the Keenleyside, Revelstoke, and Mica dams. These dams and reservoirs were built and are operated pursuant to the terms of the Columbia River Treaty. The Treaty focuses on maximizing power production, which causes wide fluctuations in the B.C. reservoirs. Proposals to amend the Treaty may be forthcoming as soon as 2014. It is reasonable to expect that river operations will change in the future and less water may be released into the United States during low flow periods.

Teck Cominco Superfund Site: Millions of tons of metallic slag and toxic chemicals lie on the bed and banks of Lake Roosevelt, posing threats to human and environmental health. The full extent of the pollution and its impacts is not known. Reservoir drawdown actions that tend to increase exposure have not been analyzed to determine risks to people or aquatic biota.

The Grand Coulee Fulcrum: If less water is available overall in the Columbia River system - due to climate change, treaty amendments, or for other reasons – then stream flows will decrease. If, in response to decreased water availability, Columbia River operators release water to satisfy hydropower, water rights, and/or to augment instream flows, then drawdown in the Lake Roosevelt reservoir may increase. This possibility has not been studied.

Ratepayer & Taxpayer Subsidies: Water diverted from the Columbia River at Grand Coulee is water that does not power the turbines of eleven downstream dams. Further, substantial energy is required to pump water uphill from Lake Roosevelt to Banks Lake. The true costs associated with foregone hydropower and direct energy needs are substantial, and they are not reflected in the price of water used by irrigators - e.g., the Columbia Basin Project. Instead, the public and BPA ratepayers pick up the tab. There has been no analysis of the propriety of reducing Columbia River hydropower generation for the benefit of Lake Roosevelt drawdown beneficiaries.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): The Bureau of Reclamation has conducted no NEPA analysis for the Lake Roosevelt Drawdown project. This despite the fact that “federal agencies shall integrate the NEPA process with other planning at the earliest possible time to insure that planning and decisions reflect environmental values, to avoid delays later in the process, and to head off potential conflicts. NEPA study procedures must insure that environmental information is available to public officials and citizens before decisions are made and before actions are taken. The information must be of high quality. Accurate scientific analysis, expert agency comments, and public scrutiny are essential to implementing NEPA” (quoting NEPA regulations issued by the Council on Environmental Quality).

Climate change holds the potential for creating large impacts on freshwater biodiversity in the Columbia River, especially when considering the baseline of existing cumulative and disruptive impacts, such as water withdrawals, water quality degradation, loss of habitat, and loss of connectivity within the system. The Public Trust doctrine holds that water resources are to be protected for the common good. The precautionary principle suggests that actions or policies that might cause substantial harm to the public or the environment should not be taken, even in the absence of absolute proof of harm.

Environmental justice principles mandate a public right to ethical and sustainable management of natural resources and to universal protection from toxic wastes that threaten clean air, water, land and food. None of these fundamental principles has been taken into consideration in devising and implementing the Lake Roosevelt Drawdown project.

Appearing in Lake Roosevelt Forum Newsletter, Winter 2008.

July 24-26, 2009 - SolWest Fair at the Grant County Fairgrounds, John Day, OR

Aug 25-27, 2009 - 10th Annual Northwest Permaculture and Bioregional Gathering, Dharmalaya Center, Eugene, OR

October 3-10, 2009 - Continental Bioregional Congress, at The Farm in Summertown, TN