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<\/a><\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related Documents” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Related Documents<\/h2>\n\n\n- Enloe Dam NOI News Release (9.13.18)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Enloe Dam NOI (9.13.18)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Enloe Dam Opening Brief (8.10.18)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Enloe Dam NMFS Letter<\/a><\/li>\n
- Enloe Dam FWS Letter<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Staff” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Staff<\/h3>\n
Andrew Hawley: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a><\/p>\nPete Frost: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on” collapsed=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]<\/p>\n
\n2017.02.24-KSNM Intervene OR Mtn and Memo.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n2017.02.24-KSNM Intervene Memo.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\nPresident Clinton designated the Klamath-Siskiyou National Monument in 2000. It is the first and only national monument specifically established to
\nprotect biological diversity. But ecologists agreed after the designation that many of the most important parts of the region were excluded from the monument’s boundaries. In 2015, 85 scientists concerned about increasing
\nthreats to the area signed a letter urging monument expansion in to better
\nprotect and connect important habitats for the monument\u2019s spectacular variety
\nof plants and animals \u201cwhose survival in the region,\u201d according the monument\u2019s
\noriginal proclamation, \u201cdepends upon its continued ecological integrity.\u201d In January 2017, President Obama expanded the monument to include these ecologically important areas.<\/span><\/p>\nSoon after, a timber company and the Association of O&C Counties, keen on logging, filed separate lawsuits suggesting an obscure law requires the area be logged and supersedes the Antiquities Act, used to designate and expand the monument. They’re wrong, and we’re representing the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, Klamath-Siskiyou Wild, Oregon Wild, and the Wilderness Society, defending the monument from this industry attack.<\/p>\n
(WELC project #484)<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/KSNM-thumb.jpg\")
<\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on” collapsed=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]<\/p>\n
2015.09.12-Smilkameen-Opening Brief.pdf<\/a><\/div>\nWELC is litigating to challenge an attempt to reinstate power generation at Enloe Dam on the Similkameen River in Washington state. Water rights for the dam violate the instream flow rules for the Similkameen River, and longstanding principles of Washington water law and economic analyses show that the project would not make financial sense. WELC is also pursuing removal of the dam to protect the aesthetic beauty of Similkameen Falls and to save the community from bearing the costs of an uneconomic hydroelectric project.<\/p>\n
Removing Enloe Dam would open up nearly 200 miles of steelhead habitat in the Upper Columbia River system. Dam removal has the potential to boost upper Columbia River steelhead populations to the degree that the species could potentially be removed from the endangered species list.<\/p>\n
Similkameen Falls, just outside Oroville, Washington, has an enduring reputation as a major aesthetic feature on the lower Similkameen River.\u00a0 Similkameen Falls and the plunge pool below the falls are of the highest cultural and historic value to the Lower Similkameen Indian Band. Hunting, fishing, root gathering camps, and greater than 50 vision quest sites are well-documented at and around Similkameen Falls.<\/p>\n
Enloe Dam, built just above Similkameen Falls in the early 1900s, creates a second waterfall that has flowed over the Dam\u2019s concave spillway since 1958, when the dam\u2019s powerhouse was decommissioned.<\/p>\n
Since decommissioning, the Okanogan Public Utility District made three unsuccessful attempts to get a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license to re-energize Enloe Dam.\u00a0 All previous attempts to get a license failed because the PUD was unwilling and unable to facilitate fish passage for salmonids through the dam.<\/p>\n
However, now there is a new attempt to get a FERC license for Enloe Dam and it has been successful based upon the \u201crevelation\u201d that Similkameen Falls is a natural barrier to fish thus negating fish passage requirements for the dam. This pretext goes counter to scientific study, which suggests the falls do not impede natural fish passage.<\/p>\n
After WELC’s successful legal challenge, the Pollution Control Hearings Board ordered PUD to study the aesthetic and recreational effects of relicensing Enloe Dam and the Washington Department of Ecology issued a new water right for the Project. The issuance of this water right violates Washington water law.\u00a0We appealed this decision to the Washington Court of Appeals, Division I.<\/p>\n
Update 11\/16\/16: Unfortunately we lost at the Court of Appeals. We filed a petition for hearing by the Washongton State Supreme Court and will update this page with news on whether we’ll have a chance to argue our case before the highest court in the state.<\/p>\n
(WELC project #506)<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Similkameen)
<\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_header admin_label=”Fullwidth Header” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” header_fullscreen=”off” header_scroll_down=”off” background_url=”https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Electron-Dam-1800×660.jpg” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” content_orientation=”center” image_orientation=”center” custom_button_one=”off” button_one_letter_spacing=”0″ button_one_use_icon=”default” button_one_icon_placement=”right” button_one_on_hover=”on” button_one_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ custom_button_two=”off” button_two_letter_spacing=”0″ button_two_use_icon=”default” button_two_icon_placement=”right” button_two_on_hover=”on” button_two_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ scroll_down_icon=”%%8%%” background_overlay_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” title_font_size=”50px” content_font_size=”18px” scroll_down_icon_size=”30px” custom_css_main_element=”padding: 100px 0 300px 0;” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding_phone=”30px||40px|”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Protecting Puget Sound Chinook Salmon, Bull Trout, and Steelhead (WA)” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Protecting Puget Sound Chinook Salmon, Bull Trout, and Steelhead<\/h1>\n
The Puyallup River originates in glaciers along the slopes of Mount Rainier in the Cascade Mountains in Washington and flows through lands owned by the Puyallup Tribe to Commencement Bay in Puget Sound. Historically, the Puyalllup River watershed supported healthy populations of Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and bull trout. Today, all three species are threatened with extinction.<\/p>\n
Part of the problem lies at Electron Dam on the Puyallup River. Dam operators divert water from the river into a forebay where protected fish are killed by predation and turbidity, or destroyed in powerhouse turbines and penstock. The operator of the dam does not possess a federal permit or other authorization that would allow it to kill any threatened fish.<\/p>\n
Representing American Rivers and American Whitewater, in 2015 we filed suit against the dam operator to stop its violation of the Endangered Species Act and help put Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and bull trout on the road to recovery in the Puyallup River.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#f1f3f2″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”30px||30px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding_tablet=”30px||40px|”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Partners” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Partners<\/h3>\n
![\"American](\"https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/American-Rivers-Logo.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related Documents” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Related Documents<\/h2>\n\n- Electron Dam Complaint (1.12.16)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Staff” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Staff<\/h3>\n
Andrea Rodgers: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a>
\nPete Frost: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Restoring the Similkameen River by removing Enloe Dam Until 2019, the Okanagon Public Utility District planned to re-energize north-central Washington’s dormant Enloe Dam, a 54-foot concrete wall blocking hundreds of miles of upstream salmon and steelhead habitat in the Upper Columbia River system. Dubious economics and a WELC court challenge combined to lead the public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"parent":5599,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
- \n
- Enloe Dam NOI News Release (9.13.18)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Enloe Dam NOI (9.13.18)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Enloe Dam Opening Brief (8.10.18)<\/a><\/li>\n
- Enloe Dam NMFS Letter<\/a><\/li>\n
- Enloe Dam FWS Letter<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Staff” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Staff<\/h3>\n
Andrew Hawley: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a><\/p>\n
Pete Frost: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on” collapsed=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]<\/p>\n
\n2017.02.24-KSNM Intervene OR Mtn and Memo.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n2017.02.24-KSNM Intervene Memo.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
President Clinton designated the Klamath-Siskiyou National Monument in 2000. It is the first and only national monument specifically established to
\nprotect biological diversity. But ecologists agreed after the designation that many of the most important parts of the region were excluded from the monument’s boundaries. In 2015, 85 scientists concerned about increasing
\nthreats to the area signed a letter urging monument expansion in to better
\nprotect and connect important habitats for the monument\u2019s spectacular variety
\nof plants and animals \u201cwhose survival in the region,\u201d according the monument\u2019s
\noriginal proclamation, \u201cdepends upon its continued ecological integrity.\u201d In January 2017, President Obama expanded the monument to include these ecologically important areas.<\/span><\/p>\nSoon after, a timber company and the Association of O&C Counties, keen on logging, filed separate lawsuits suggesting an obscure law requires the area be logged and supersedes the Antiquities Act, used to designate and expand the monument. They’re wrong, and we’re representing the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, Klamath-Siskiyou Wild, Oregon Wild, and the Wilderness Society, defending the monument from this industry attack.<\/p>\n
(WELC project #484)<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” disabled_on=”on|on|on” disabled=”on” collapsed=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]<\/p>\n
2015.09.12-Smilkameen-Opening Brief.pdf<\/a><\/div>\nWELC is litigating to challenge an attempt to reinstate power generation at Enloe Dam on the Similkameen River in Washington state. Water rights for the dam violate the instream flow rules for the Similkameen River, and longstanding principles of Washington water law and economic analyses show that the project would not make financial sense. WELC is also pursuing removal of the dam to protect the aesthetic beauty of Similkameen Falls and to save the community from bearing the costs of an uneconomic hydroelectric project.<\/p>\n
Removing Enloe Dam would open up nearly 200 miles of steelhead habitat in the Upper Columbia River system. Dam removal has the potential to boost upper Columbia River steelhead populations to the degree that the species could potentially be removed from the endangered species list.<\/p>\n
Similkameen Falls, just outside Oroville, Washington, has an enduring reputation as a major aesthetic feature on the lower Similkameen River.\u00a0 Similkameen Falls and the plunge pool below the falls are of the highest cultural and historic value to the Lower Similkameen Indian Band. Hunting, fishing, root gathering camps, and greater than 50 vision quest sites are well-documented at and around Similkameen Falls.<\/p>\n
Enloe Dam, built just above Similkameen Falls in the early 1900s, creates a second waterfall that has flowed over the Dam\u2019s concave spillway since 1958, when the dam\u2019s powerhouse was decommissioned.<\/p>\n
Since decommissioning, the Okanogan Public Utility District made three unsuccessful attempts to get a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license to re-energize Enloe Dam.\u00a0 All previous attempts to get a license failed because the PUD was unwilling and unable to facilitate fish passage for salmonids through the dam.<\/p>\n
However, now there is a new attempt to get a FERC license for Enloe Dam and it has been successful based upon the \u201crevelation\u201d that Similkameen Falls is a natural barrier to fish thus negating fish passage requirements for the dam. This pretext goes counter to scientific study, which suggests the falls do not impede natural fish passage.<\/p>\n
After WELC’s successful legal challenge, the Pollution Control Hearings Board ordered PUD to study the aesthetic and recreational effects of relicensing Enloe Dam and the Washington Department of Ecology issued a new water right for the Project. The issuance of this water right violates Washington water law.\u00a0We appealed this decision to the Washington Court of Appeals, Division I.<\/p>\n
Update 11\/16\/16: Unfortunately we lost at the Court of Appeals. We filed a petition for hearing by the Washongton State Supreme Court and will update this page with news on whether we’ll have a chance to argue our case before the highest court in the state.<\/p>\n
(WELC project #506)<\/em><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_header admin_label=”Fullwidth Header” background_layout=”dark” text_orientation=”left” header_fullscreen=”off” header_scroll_down=”off” background_url=”https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Electron-Dam-1800×660.jpg” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” content_orientation=”center” image_orientation=”center” custom_button_one=”off” button_one_letter_spacing=”0″ button_one_use_icon=”default” button_one_icon_placement=”right” button_one_on_hover=”on” button_one_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ custom_button_two=”off” button_two_letter_spacing=”0″ button_two_use_icon=”default” button_two_icon_placement=”right” button_two_on_hover=”on” button_two_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ scroll_down_icon=”%%8%%” background_overlay_color=”rgba(0,0,0,0)” title_font_size=”50px” content_font_size=”18px” scroll_down_icon_size=”30px” custom_css_main_element=”padding: 100px 0 300px 0;” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding_phone=”30px||40px|”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Protecting Puget Sound Chinook Salmon, Bull Trout, and Steelhead (WA)” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Protecting Puget Sound Chinook Salmon, Bull Trout, and Steelhead<\/h1>\n
The Puyallup River originates in glaciers along the slopes of Mount Rainier in the Cascade Mountains in Washington and flows through lands owned by the Puyallup Tribe to Commencement Bay in Puget Sound. Historically, the Puyalllup River watershed supported healthy populations of Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and bull trout. Today, all three species are threatened with extinction.<\/p>\n
Part of the problem lies at Electron Dam on the Puyallup River. Dam operators divert water from the river into a forebay where protected fish are killed by predation and turbidity, or destroyed in powerhouse turbines and penstock. The operator of the dam does not possess a federal permit or other authorization that would allow it to kill any threatened fish.<\/p>\n
Representing American Rivers and American Whitewater, in 2015 we filed suit against the dam operator to stop its violation of the Endangered Species Act and help put Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, and bull trout on the road to recovery in the Puyallup River.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#f1f3f2″ allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”30px||30px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” custom_padding_tablet=”30px||40px|”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Partners” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Partners<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related Documents” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Related Documents<\/h2>\n
- \n
- Electron Dam Complaint (1.12.16)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Staff” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Staff<\/h3>\n
Andrea Rodgers: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a>
\nPete Frost: Bio<\/a> | Docket<\/a><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Restoring the Similkameen River by removing Enloe Dam Until 2019, the Okanagon Public Utility District planned to re-energize north-central Washington’s dormant Enloe Dam, a 54-foot concrete wall blocking hundreds of miles of upstream salmon and steelhead habitat in the Upper Columbia River system. Dubious economics and a WELC court challenge combined to lead the public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"parent":5599,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
- Enloe Dam NOI (9.13.18)<\/a><\/li>\n