Overview
- U.S. District Judge Michael Simon directed dam operators to release additional spring and summer flows to support endangered salmon and steelhead.
- The ruling rejects the federal proposal for higher reservoir levels and frames the court-ordered relief as narrowly tailored and close to the status quo.
- Reservoirs must remain at 2025 settings across eight dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers, including facilities such as Ice Harbor and Bonneville.
- The case was revived by Oregon, Washington, tribes, and conservation and fishing groups after the Trump administration scrapped a 2023 pact that included a $1 billion salmon restoration pledge.
- Navigation and power stakeholders warn that increased spill could disrupt commerce, raise utility costs, and pose infrastructure risks, and they have signaled further legal challenges could follow.