A Columbia River that unites people to fight for clean water, abundant fish and wildlife, and our climate.
Mission:
Protect and restore the water quality of the Columbia River and all life connected to it, from the headwaters to the Pacific Ocean.
Values
Care
We care for ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Hope
We work and celebrate with creativity and optimism.
Honesty and integrity
We operate with honesty and integrity, balanced with compassion.
Relationship building
Victories are built on strong, lasting, and reciprocal relationships with colleagues, partners, members, and decision-makers.
Equity and inclusion
We respect all people, regardless of color, ethnicity, place of origin, culture, language, age, sexuality, or gender.
Goals
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Work in solidarity with Tribes and frontline river communities to protect and restore clean water; restore abundant and harvestable salmon; and advance a just transition from fossil fuels to energy justice on the Columbia.
Improve water quality in the Columbia River because people have a right to eat locally caught fish, drink clean water, and swim without fear of pollution; clean water and ecosystems have intrinsic value; and multiple Tribal Nations have Treaty-protected rights to the Columbia.
Protect habitat, fish and wildlife, and people from past, existing, and proposed high-impact development.
Combat climate change and other impacts of fossil fuel development by promoting a just transition from fossil fuels.
Support Tribes as they advocate for climate action that protects Tribal cultural and religious resources.
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Inspire people to care for and use the Columbia River through cultural deference and respectful appreciation; science; and hands-on opportunities to engage with and learn about the river and the people who rely on it.
Celebrate the Columbia as a life-giving and sustaining force that connects people and supports vibrant Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures.
Encourage people to use and enjoy the river.
Share many forms of knowledge about the Columbia and the people who rely on it.
Offer free resources to connect people to the river, including educational programming and information on water quality.
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Implement anti-racist strategies and embrace the many ways Columbia Riverkeeper’s mission and social justice intersect.
Promote justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in environmental decisions and our own actions. This includes evaluating the impacts of our decisions on Tribal Nations, pursuing dialogue with Tribes, and, where appropriate, working in solidarity with Tribes to achieve common goals.
Improve public understanding of leading causes of salmon declines, including combatting the racist narrative of Tribal fishing as a leading cause of the extinction crisis.
Seek out ways to share power, resources, and information to actively build capacity in environmental and social justice movements in Columbia River communities, including directing Clean Water Act enforcement funds to Seeding Justice and Tribes.
Identify new ways our work and practices can become actively anti-racist and implement new tactics.
Invest time and care in existing relationships, and cultivate new relationships, to support authentic engagement with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals, organizations, and frontline communities who are disproportionately impacted by water and air pollution.
Photo by Kelly Turso
Theory of Change
Columbia Riverkeeper’s theory of change is rooted in relationship-building and working in solidarity with Tribal Nations to protect and restore the Columbia River. We unite river communities to support clean water, strong salmon runs, and a just transition from fossil fuels. In doing so, we inspire people to engage in multi-generational efforts and celebrate impactful victories for the Columbia and the people who rely on it.
In the issues we take on, our team endeavors to hold ourselves accountable to the settler colonial history of the Columbia, recognizing that the inequalities and injustices present today are products of that history, including harmful actions and inactions. We endeavor to engage on issues that do not perpetuate that settler colonial history.
Our programs are powered by 16,000 members and supporters.
We combine community organizing, policy advocacy, litigation, communications, science, and education because the sum is greater than the parts. Strategic legal advocacy supports river communities by providing clear targets for organizing, leading to impactful victories by prevailing in court or convincing decisionmakers. At the same time, community organizing builds political pressure and lasting power in a way we cannot achieve with legal work alone. Our approach is to develop strategic campaigns in partnership with Tribes, community members, and coalition partners that build organizing and political power and, in some instances, changes in the law. We pair our advocacy work with education and science to inspire people to confidently use and value the Columbia, the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest.
We celebrate collective victories. Our work—whether tackling the climate crisis or advocating for clean up at the most toxic site in America, the Hanford Nuclear Site—is daunting. By uplifting victories and progress, we inspire people to stay engaged and dream big. We also pause to appreciate each other and our partners. This practice sustains and bolsters our efforts to advance multi-generational campaigns to protect and restore the Columbia River.
Our Approach
Like many sports, we work as a team every day—as a staff and board, with our members, and alongside Tribes and community partners. But our work is no game.
Columbia Riverkeeper engages in high-stakes campaigns. Will a small town get saddled with decades of cancer-causing toxic pollution from a fossil fuel terminal? Will another population of Columbia River salmon go extinct in our lifetimes? We run creative plays—whether organizing in rural communities, arguing in court, or sharing exposés with the media—to fight for clean water, climate action, and salmon recovery. Our playbook includes:
Grassroots Community Organizing
We work with impacted communities to engage impacted community members to convince decisionmakers to take action for clean water, salmon recovery, and our climate; promote strategic action and build political strength; cultivate leadership; and learn from local knowledge.
Education, Science, Cultural Deference, and Respectful Appreciation
We educate and inspire people to learn about, monitor, and care for the Columbia—and create opportunities for people to take action toward protecting it. We also encourage people to learn about the rich, diverse cultures of Columbia Basin Indigenous people, as well as their sovereignty and governments, and to learn about non-Indigenous cultures and their connections to the Columbia. We create opportunities for community and environmental connection through experiential hands-on engagement.
Legal Work
We enforce environmental laws to ensure local, state, and federal governments follow the law; reduce or eliminate illegal pollution; hold polluters accountable; and increase government transparency.
Policy Advocacy
We advocate to local, state, and federal elected officials and agencies to adopt policies, make permitting decisions, and pass regulations to protect the environment, people’s health, and our climate. We also research or fact-check policy proposals and build evidence in support of policies that protect clean water, support salmon recovery, or advance a just transition from fossil fuels.
Communications
We use online organizing and earned media to share stories and key values; inspire public participation; and inform decision makers, corporate investors, and supporters about our campaigns and projects.
Mentorship
We offer paid internships, including law clerks, water quality technicians, and (periodically) community organizers and education/outreach interns, which support job skills and mentorship.
Strategic Program Priorities
Columbia Riverkeeper uses strategic coalition-building; grassroots organizing; strong policy work and litigation; and volunteers to protect clean water, the climate, and community health.
We have five primary program areas: Clean Water; Climate & Energy; Salmon Recovery; Clean Up Hanford; and Science & Education.
Our programs are powered by 16,000 members and supporters. Lasting, positive change happens when thousands of people pool their resources to fight the good fight. Our program work also benefits from the support of foundations and several state and federal grants.
Columbia Riverkeeper is committed to achieving our mission and vision by advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in environmental decisions and our own actions. In turn, our 2025 – 2027 Strategic Plan digs deeper to incorporate justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion principles at all levels of our organization, including internal practices; program work; employee hiring, training, and retention; board recruitment and retention; membership outreach and development; and partnerships.
Clean Water
Every person has the right to eat Columbia River fish and shellfish without fear of toxic pollutants.
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The Problem
Every person has the right to eat Columbia River fish and shellfish without fear of toxic pollutants. Today, this is not a reality.
Thousands of pipes discharge pollution into the Columbia and its tributaries, making parts of the Columbia unhealthy for fish and people. Pesticides and heavy metals enter the river from diffuse sources, such as agricultural runoff and air deposition. Contaminants from former industrial sites also continue to leach into the river.
This toxic pollution accumulates to dangerous levels in the fish people eat—particularly resident fish like sturgeon and bass—and can cause cancer, birth defects, and serious illnesses. Studies demonstrate toxic pollution in Columbia River fish disproportionately impacts Indigenous people and Asian American Pacific Islanders.
Pollution also harms salmon and other aquatic life in the Columbia River. Studies on the Columbia River have documented that many toxic contaminants are moving up the food chain and accumulating in the bodies of animals that eat fish.
In addition to surface-water pollution, groundwater pollution in the Columbia River Basin is well documented and often has disproportionate impacts on BIPOC communities. This includes the groundwater pollution from agriculture—including factory farms and industrial food processing—that disproportionately harms Latine and low-income families in the Lower Umatilla Groundwater Management Area in Morrow and Umatilla counties.
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Our Goals
Clean up and prevent toxic pollution so people can safely eat fish and other aquatic life in most locations on the Columbia River without toxic contamination.
Protect salmon and other fish and wildlife from pollution.
Engage community members to advocate for clean drinking water.
Support leadership from Columbia River Tribes on pollution priorities.
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Our Plan
Enforce the Law: We will initiate, and resolve on favorable terms, at least 12 Clean Water Act enforcement lawsuits against companies or public entities that violate the law. These lawsuits will stop pollution from flowing into the Columbia and its tributaries. The lawsuits will also hold polluters accountable by requiring that they pay a penalty, which will go to a foundation to support Tribes and nonprofits working to protect and restore the river.
Challenge Environmental Rollbacks: We will engage in government decision-making processes to improve water pollution discharge permits, policies, and rulemakings to reduce pollution. We will also work in solidarity with Tribes to oppose policies or actions that threaten clean water and respond to emerging pollution issues.
Hold the Government Accountable: We will work in solidarity with Yakama Nation, other Tribes, and impacted local communities to hold decision makers and polluters accountable and ensure a swift and thorough cleanup of Bradford Island and its surrounding waters at Bonneville Dam, a Superfund site. We will also work with river communities to engage in government decision making, or spur government action, on cleanup at Goldendale Aluminum, Georgia-Pacific Washougal, and other toxic sites.
Increase Public Awareness of Toxic Pollutants: We will work with our partners to increase public awareness of toxic pollutionin Columbia River fish, the serious threats to public health, and how people can advance solutions to reduce toxic pollution, with an emphasis on engaging people disproportionately impacted by pollution.
Stand Up to Factory Farms: We will work with community members in Umatilla and Morrow counties to advocate for federal and state action to address groundwater contamination in the Lower Umatilla Groundwater Management
Climate & Energy
Recent scientific studies show that the climate impact of fracked gas is nearly as bad as coal because methane leaks directly into the atmosphere during fracking and transportation.
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The Problem
For more than two decades, the Columbia has faced an unprecedented number of proposals for new coal, oil, and gas-shipping terminals, which threaten public health and safety, the river, and our climate. Pollution from fossil fuel facilities often disproportionately impacts Tribal Nations and BIPOC, low-income, and rural communities. Investing in long-term fossil fuel infrastructure impedes our progress toward renewable energy and clean fuels. Thanks to our incredible members and partners, we have had great success. But our work is not done.
The fossil fuel industry continues to advance plans to harden and increase dependence on fracked gas. Often referred to “natural gas,” fracked gas is 90-percent methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Recent scientific studies show that the climate impact of fracked gas is nearly as bad as coal—or perhaps even worse—because methane leaks directly into the atmosphere during fracking and transportation.
The fracked gas industry has startling plans for expansion in Washington and Oregon. This includes expanding existing gas infrastructure and new pipelines. TC Energy proposes GTN XPress, a major expansion that will add 150 million cubic feet per day of fracked gas capacity to its GTN pipeline. Our climate cannot afford this massive growth in fracked gas extraction and consumption. Stopping the nation’s largest new methane users is a vital step in fighting climate change.
The oil industry also sees dollar signs when it comes to the Columbia River. Oil companies tout a truly dangerous idea: sending crude oil-by-rail along the Columbia River to West Coast shipping ports, where oil supertankers would transport it through fragile estuarine ecosystems to the Pacific Ocean. For example, Zenith Energy continues to operate at its Portland, OR, facility, a major threat to the Columbia and Willamette rivers, our climate, and public health.
The Columbia River Basin is also home to climate action. From state legislation to local ordinances, Columbia River communities have helped pass some of the nation’s most progressive laws to combat the climate crisis. At the same time, major loopholes undermine a just transition: irreplaceable and culturally significant sites have been destroyed or are currently threatened by so-called “green energy.”
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Our Goals
Protect the Columbia River, river communities, and the climate from harmful energy infrastructure and associated pollution, in partnership and solidarity with affected communities and Tribal Nations.
Promote clean and just energy policy and transitions in the Columbia Basin, with a focus on opportunities to work in solidarity with Tribal Nations, frontline organizations, and communities.
Oppose power generation, transmission, or load growth that hardens reliance on, or significantly increases demand for, Columbia Basin hydropower.
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Our Plan
Advocate for Climate Action in River Communities: In collaboration with community members, we will advocate for local and state policies that protect people’s health and reduce climate pollution. We will also work in solidarity with Tribal Nations to ensure that the disproportionate impacts of clean energy development and transmission are considered in decision making.
Confront False Energy Solutions: We will engage on alleged fossil fuel replacement projects, such as NEXT Energy’s renewable diesel refinery, that have the potential to significantly impact climate, habitat, and growth in fossil fuel consumption.
Stop Fracked Gas Infrastructure: We will work with impacted community members to stop proposals for new fracked gas infrastructure. We will also play a leadership role in community organizing, legal work, and communications to stop the proposed GTN expansion and other gas pipeline proposals.
Stand Up to Oil: We will work with communities advocating for regulators to retire oil-by-rail at Zenith without massively expanding “renewable” fuels throughput.
Stop the Destruction of a Sacred Site: We will work in solidarity with the Yakama and other Tribal Nations to honor Treaty rights and protect a sacred site, known as Pushpum, threatened by pumped-storage hydro development.
Salmon Recovery
The situation is dire. Snake River salmon and Southern Resident orcas are close to extinction—and the people and cultures who rely on them are suffering.
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The Problem
The Columbia was once among the most productive aquatic ecosystems in the world. An estimated 16 million salmon returned to the Columbia from the ocean each year, and Indigenous people have sustainably harvested these salmon since time immemorial. The Columbia still supports important subsistence, commercial, and recreational salmon fisheries. Columbia River salmon are also food for critically endangered Southern Resident orcas and other wildlife.
Today, Columbia River salmon populations are a fraction of their historic size. The U.S. government eradicated salmon from many parts of the Columbia Basin by constructing Grand Coulee, Hells Canyon, and many other dams. Even dams with fish passage structures take a heavy toll on salmon by damaging habitat and increasing river temperatures. Despite the dams and other threats, some Columbia River salmon still survive, although many populations are close to extinction.
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Our Goals
Restore clean and free-flowing rivers to facilitate salmon recovery and sustainable, harvestable fisheries.
Work in solidarity with Tribes to support Tribal Nations’ rights to harvestable salmon runs and meaningful input in regional decisions about salmon recovery and management.
Increase public understanding about why many salmon runs in the Columbia River Basin are not yet recovering, including combatting the racist narrative that Tribal fishing is a lead cause of salmon declines.
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Our Plan
Hydroelectric Dam Reform and Lower Snake River Dam Removal: Under the Biden administration,Columbia Riverkeeper worked with our nonprofit partners and in solidarity with Tribes to help secure the historic Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative. The agreement acknowledges the urgent need to recover abundant salmon while working to replace the energy, transportation, and irrigation services provided by the four Lower Snake River dams. Now we need to hold the government to its promises. The situation is dire. Snake River salmon and Southern Resident orcas are close to extinction—and the people and cultures who rely on them are suffering. We will work with Tribes and partners to convince the federal government to lay the groundwork for the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams. As a region, we must unite around solutions to remove the dams and re-invest in regional transportation, irrigation, and energy infrastructure. Working together, we can have a future that includes salmon, agriculture, and clean energy.
Restore Cold Water: Through strategic media, inspiring events, and litigation, we will sound the alarm on the hot-water crisis of the Columbia River. This includes using the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Clean Water Act to force federal agencies to address temperature impacts on adult salmon migration.
Protect Important Estuary Habitat from Industrialization: Recognized as an Estuary of National Significance, the Columbia River estuary is home to some of the most important salmon habitat in the world. We will work with Tribes and river communities to engage in important decisions that will impact the estuary’s health for generations, including proposals to build massive new heavy-industrial ports in Columbia County, OR, and Cowlitz County, WA.
Work in Solidarity with Tribes for Fish Passage and Emerging Threats to Salmon Recovery: Beyond dam removal or changes to dams on the mainstem Columbia and Snake rivers, we will advocate for policies that support fish passage in tributaries of the Columbia River where salmon breed, and for fish passage on tributaries like the Lewis River in Washington and the Hood River in Oregon.
Clean Up Hanford
The Hanford Nuclear Site is the most toxic place in America. And it’s located along the Columbia River. We work with Tribes and engage people in one of the most important cleanups in the world.
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The Problem
The Columbia River runs along the Hanford Nuclear Site, a legacy of World War II and the Cold War that is home to some of the most dangerous pollution on Earth. The federal government selected Hanford as a top-secret site for the Manhattan Project, which enriched plutonium for nuclear weapons. The 586-square-mile Hanford Site occupies the ceded lands of multiple Tribal Nations. Today, Tribes and Indigenous people are leading the effort to hold the U.S. government accountable for cleanup.
Radioactive and toxic pollution from Hanford threatens people’s health, salmon, and water quality. The stark reality: contamination from Hanford still reaches the Columbia River. Without effective cleanup, more pollution threatens to escape into the environment in the coming decades.
In addition to Hanford cleanup, the area is threatened by new nuclear energy proposals. Currently, the company X-energy is proposing to build small modular nuclear reactors (SMNRs) adjacent to Hanford near the Columbia River. It has proposed and canceled plans to build in Washington several times in recent years. The nuclear industry claims to be “clean,” but it is an extremely dirty technology—beginning with uranium mining, which decimates Indigenous lands. SMNRs produce two- to 30-times the radioactive waste of older nuclear designs, waste for which we have no national repository. Any community that hosts a nuclear reactor will likely be saddled with its waste for the foreseeable future. This harm falls disproportionately on Tribal Nations and Indigenous people.
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Our Goals
Advocate for Hanford Nuclear Site cleanup that protects the Columbia River, supports healthy havestable salmon, other fish, animals, and plants, prioritizes human health, and upholds Treaty Rights.
Work in solidarity with Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Nez Perce, Warm Springs, and other Tribes and Tribal-member led entities engaged on Hanford cleanup or impacted by it.
Increase the visibility of Hanford so that it remains a priority, locally and nationally.
Increase outreach, engagement, and connection with communities most impacted by Hanford, nuclear waste, and new nuclear development.
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Our Plan
Stop proposals to build new nuclear reactors and other proposals that increase the burden of nuclear contamination and waste.
Work in solidarity with Tribes to push for strong River Corridor cleanup plans and, if necessary, challenge plans that fail to protect people and the river.
Implement communication and outreach strategies that are accessible, include Spanish translation, strong visuals, and age-appropriate and culturally appropriate content.
Advocate for thorough cleanup and transparency at Hanford.
Convince the U.S. Department of Energy to abandon its proposal to reclassify high-level waste at Hanford as a way to avoid cleanup that protects people and the river.
Press agencies to continue holding online public hearings and expand in-person meetings to reach communities outside of the Tri-Cities to engage a broader cross-section of the Pacific Northwest in Hanford cleanup.
Build and maintain relationships with frontline communities impacted by Hanford, nuclear waste, and new nuclear development, to improve outreach and engagement on cleanup issues and new nuclear development; work in solidarity on select social justice issues.
Engage people to speak about the risks of Hanford’s pollution to people who live, fish, and otherwise use the Columbia River near Hanford.
Tell the story of Hanford from different perspectives using an environmental justice lens. Connect the issues at Hanford to the broader legacy of nuclear weapons production to build power between communities.
Science & Education
We emphasize education that not only teaches about problems on the Columbia, but also illuminates solutions to empower people to take action and make change.
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The Problem
Toxic pollution harms fish, wildlife, and ecosystem health—and the people who rely on the Columbia. For example, throughout the Columbia River Basin, state agencies have issued warnings about the safety of eating some (or in many instances, any) amount of certain types of locally caught fish. Many people are unaware of the health warnings. In addition to eating Columbia River fish, many people rely on the Columbia to cool off on a hot summer day and for many recreational uses. Yet government agencies do not routinely monitor water quality in the Columbia, let alone make data easily accessible to people in multiple languages. With access to water quality data and culturally informed messaging, people can make choices to use the river—and get inspired to fight for clean water. Beyond monitoring and sharing information with adults, many kids who live in rural Columbia River communities lack meaningful opportunities to connect and learn about the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest.
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Our Goals
Educate and inspire the diverse communities throughout the Columbia River Basin to understand, care for, use, and take action to protect the Columbia River, clean water, salmon and other species, and people who rely on locally caught fish. Offer solutions and opportunities for engagement.
Encourage active fishing and swimming in the Columbia and tributaries by sharing information on fish advisories and collecting and sharing results from E. coli data and harmful algal bloom monitoring (Portland and the Gorge).
Amplify scientific research, including information on traditional ecological knowledge, to connect the public with science. Share and communicate new and existing research and connect researchers with the public through webinars and communications.
Use the Nichols Natural Area, located along the Columbia River in the City of Hood River, to create a high-quality and high-profile restoration and environmental education project, with a focus on education and stewardship that represents the people of the mid-Columbia Gorge.
Help people, with a particular emphasis on youth, develop stronger relationships with the Columbia River and shared understanding of our responsibility to it.
Increase access to careers in science and environmental education through skilled learning and paid internships.
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Our Plan
Water Quality Monitoring
Monitor 18 Columbia River and tributary beaches and share information on the Swim Guide app.
Share data with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for use in statewide assessments.
Conduct harmful algal bloom visual monitoring and increase public awareness, safety, and policy solutions.
Increase access to careers in environmental science and education by creating opportunities for skilled learning and career development through paid internships.
Education and Outreach
Provide engaging bilingual (Spanish and English) environmental education programming along the Columbia River to at least 500 youth and young adults from Columbia River Gorge schools each year.
Continue maintenance and restoration of Nichols Natural Area with volunteer community events.
Create education and volunteer opportunities for all ages that promote stewardship and drive people toward increased engagement. Seek out new opportunities for volunteer participation at varying commitment levels.
Pursue opportunities for collaboration and deepen existing partnerships with emphasis on engaging Tribal, Latine, and other BIPOC communities.
Host Columbia River science and education webinars and events.
Increase visibility and understanding of scientific research and amplify new science by creating bilingual education materials, fact sheets, emails, and social and earned media to educate people about the Columbia River and the issues it faces.
Continue to promote existing materials (e.g., bilingual fact sheets) through social media, communications, and tabling.
Serve as a reliable resource for community members by responding to inquiries and sharing knowledge and resources.
Support Oregon State University’s Toxic Contaminants Project by serving on the project advisory board, supporting project activities, advising on sampling locations, and offering research suggestions.
Emphasize education that not only teaches about problems on the Columbia, but also illuminates solutions to empower people to take action and make change.
Fight for What You Love
Columbia Riverkeeper unites communities to fight for clean water and our climate—and win. Launched in 2000, we have grown into a diverse, respected organization known for combining grassroots organizing with legal advocacy to secure victories for clean water, salmon recovery, and our climate.
Columbia Riverkeeper advocates for the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest and the people who rely on it.
P.O. Box 950 Hood River, OR 97031 541-387-3030 columbiariverkeeper.org
Columbia Riverkeeper unites communities to fight for clean water and our climate—and win. Launched in 2000, we have grown into a diverse, respected organization known for combining grassroots organizing and legal advocacy to secure victories for clean water, salmon recovery, and our climate.
