The Columbia Basin Initiative is a 2023 agreement between the U.S. government, four sovereign

Native American Tribes In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in the United States. Modern forms of t ...

(

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

Yakama The Yakama are a Native Americans in the United State, Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in Eastern Washington, eastern Washington (state), Washington state. Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally rec ...

Warm Springs Warm Springs may refer to: *Warm Springs Apache, a subdivision of the Chiricahua Apache *Warm Springs, California, in Riverside County *Warm Springs, Fremont, California **Warm Springs Elementary School, elementary school in Fremont, California **W ...

and Umatilla) and the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

to provide over $1 billion in funds for

salmon restoration The survival of wild salmon relies heavily on them having suitable habitat for spawning and rearing of their young. This habitat is the main concern for conservationists. Salmon habitat can be degraded by many different factors including land dev ...

and clean energy production. The agreement comes after over twenty years of litigation with the U.S. government for violating the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

. The agreement honors the treaty rights of the four tribes to fish and gather food in the Columbia Basin. The funding also will be used to support Tribally-owned energy projects.

History

The Columbia Basin refers to the geographic area that spans Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. In the 1960s, the U.S. government built four dams on the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

. These dams provide hydroelectric power to the region. Scientists, tribes, and fisherman believe that the dams have led to the destruction of the salmon population. In 2022, Washington Governor

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...

and U.S. Senator

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (, October 11, 1950) is an American politician serving in her sixth term as a United States senator from Washington (state), Washington, beginning her tenure in 1993, and is the state's Seniority in the United States Senate, ...

published a report about the cost of replacing the energy and irrigation of the Lower Snake Sams.

Salmon restoration

Salmon are a critical food source for animals in the region. Salmon are also important to the culture, economy, and way of life of tribal nations and indigenous people in the area. Scientists argue that there is a threat of extinction for thirteen species of salmon and steelhead trout. Climate change is also impacting the salmon population through warming waters. The Columbia Basin Initiative makes changes to dam schedules during salmon runs and migration in an effort to preserve the salmon population.

Tribal sovereignty

The 1855

Treaty of Point Elliott The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, or the Point Elliott Treaty,—also known as the Treaty of Point Elliot / Point Elliot Treaty—is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the Native American tribes of the greater ...

created the

Yakama Nation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat ...

, which included 1.3 million acres of land. While the federal government retained 11 million acres of land, there was a provision that tribal members could continue to fish and gather food in that area.

Litigation and the Endangered Species Act

In 1992, the US

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

(NOAA) released a report stating that the dams on the Lower Snake River would not endanger the fish population. The

Idaho Department of Fish and Game The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) is the Idaho state department which is responsible for preserving and managing Idaho's wildlife, including mammals, fish, birds, plants, and invertebrates. History The Idaho Department of Fish and ...

sued the U.S. District Court, challenge the report. The court ruled that the NOAA report was "arbitrary and capricious." A 2021 lawsuit includes

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...

Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of United States Congress, Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Col ...

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

, and the

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...

Earthjustice Earthjustice (originally Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund) is a nonprofit public interest organization based in the United States dedicated to litigating environmental issues. Headquartered in San Francisco, they have an international program, a co ...

represented the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs agreed to put the lawsuit on pause while the parties created a plan to save the salmon. Proponents believe that the pause in litigation charts a path for breaching the four lower Snake River Dams. Opponents including Rep.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers (born May 22, 1969) is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2025 as the United States representative for , which encompasses the eastern third of the state and includes Spokane, the state's second-largest cit ...

of Washington State and Jim Matheson, CEO of the

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) represents the interests of over 900 electric cooperatives in the United States. Cooperatives are not-for-profit and are owned by their membership. Founded in 1942, NRECA unites the coun ...

argue that the dams provide affordable and reliable sources of power for the region. One of the goals is to replace the

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

with another form of clean energy, and ultimately to breech the four Lower Snake River Dams.

Timeline

1938: the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

passes the Bonneville Project Act which allows the sale of power from federal dams on the Columbia River. 1938: Congress passes the Mitchell Act which establishes salmon hatcheries to replace the salmon population lost from the dams. 1945: River and Harbors Act approves building four dams on the lower Snake River.

is in charge of marketing the power. 1973:

is passed. 1980: Congress passes the Northwest Power Act to acknowledge the declining salmon population. 1992: The Idaho Department of Fish and Game sued to

for its biological opinion on the impact of the Lower Snake Dams on the salmon population.

References

{{reflist Columbia River Water supply infrastructure in Washington (state) United States and Native American treaties