Take Action: Salmon need cold water

 Fight alongside us by telling EPA to protect Columbia and Snake river salmon from dangerously warm water!

Overview:

Columbia Riverkeeper fights to protect salmon from hot water and climate change. Why? Warm water in the Columbia and Snake rivers is dangerous to salmon, as well as the orcas and fisheries that salmon sustain. 

Fighting for cool, clean water means fighting the Trump Administration’s lawless EPA. That’s why we sued: to force the Environmental Protection Agency to do its job. Years ago, EPA made a plan to keep our rivers and fish cool. Now, we’re asking EPA to follow through.

Background:

Columbia Riverkeeper is challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) failure to complete a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analysis for temperature pollution in the Columbia and lower Snake rivers. A TMDL is a study about the causes of temperature pollution and potential solutions. EPA’s preliminary results show that the large, shallow reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake rivers collect the sun’s energy, making the river too hot. The temperature TMDL is an important first step in reducing water temperature and protecting salmon. 

In 2018, a federal district court ruled in Riverkeeper’s favor, finding that the Clean Water Act required EPA to issue the TMDL. Still unwilling to do the right thing, EPA appealed its defeat to the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit will hear oral arguments in Riverkeeper’s case on August 26, 2019.

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