B.C. reservoirs will help aid Northwest power production, irrigation and fish during drought

By Becky Kramer
Spokesman Review

A robust snowpack in British Columbia will help ease drought conditions in the Northwest this summer.

Three B.C. reservoirs will release additional water into the Columbia River to help migrating salmon, power production, irrigation and barge navigation.

The water releases are part of a “dry year strategy” for the Columbia Basin, which also includes drafting reservoirs behind Grand Coulee and other U.S. storage dams starting in July.

“This is among the worst dry years,” said Steve Barton, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ chief of the Columbia Basin’s water management division. Read more