July 2008 Issue

Western Climate Initiative Stresses Regional Approach to Climate Change

Janice Adair, Washington Department of Ecology, briefed (240k PDF) the Council on the efforts of the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative to develop regional strategies to address climate change. The WCI includes Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec. According to Adair, "adaptation is what we're going to talk about."

In a related discussion, representatives from Snohomish PUD, Seattle City Light, and Grant PUD presented their perspective (140k PDF) on the WCI. They noted the important role of the Council in providing data and analysis. All three noted that their utility was committed to meeting their state's renewable portfolio standard requirements, observing that conservation will help in achieving them.

Follow-up Presentation on the Effects of Toxic Contaminants on Salmon

Tracy Collier and Lyndal Johnson of NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center provided additional information in answer to questions Council members had on an earlier presentation at their June meeting. Overall, they noted that contaminant exposure was widespread in juvenile salmon in the Columbia River. See presentation (large file: 9mb PDF).

Fish and Wildlife Amendment Worksessions Cover Range of Issues

In worksessions to amend the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, Council members discussed a wide variety of issues, including: the effect of NOAA's biological opinion and the Columbia fish accords on the program; how to address climate change, invasive species, and toxic chemicals in the program; and the role of the ocean and estuary in protecting and recovering fish and wildlife. Other topics on implementation and basinwide strategies were also discussed. See amendments page.