The Yakama Nation is fighting a pumped hydro storage development near Goldendale, Washington – but it’s just one of many.
Hydropower
Did salmon actually use the Skagit River before the Seattle dams were built?
The public utility’s license renewal to operate the dams centers on the answer to this question.
As Lake Powell levels drop, see inside Glen Canyon Dam
The hydropower plant that powers about a quarter of a million homes is run by a team of mechanics, electricians and more.
‘Cultural resources are not a renewable thing for us.’
The West’s largest green energy storage project would destroy a Yakama sacred site. Now, the nation is fighting back.
Bringing the fight against dams to COP26
Indigenous activists and allies from Oregon to Chile are highlighting how dams harm the climate and Indigenous peoples worldwide.
Climate change wreaks havoc on the electricity grid
Heat and drought combined are especially harmful to the power system.
The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe calls on Seattle to remove the Gorge Dam
The tribe is pushing to protect their way of life.
Can Puget Sound’s orca and salmon survive Seattle’s dams?
Federal regulators are reassessing the ecological impacts of the Skagit River dams.
Is renewable energy’s future dammed?
A proposed hydroelectric project on the Little Colorado River shows the tricky trade-offs in transitioning from fossil fuels.
Courts can’t keep Columbia and Snake River salmon from the edge of extinction
After decades of court cases have rebuffed federal management, it may take a political fix to restore salmon in the Columbia Basin.
A utility in coal country doubles down on renewables
‘You can politicize it all you want, but in the end economics is really what drives it.’
The playground of Lake Powell isn’t worth drowned canyons
Before a writer knew the true cost of Glen Canyon Dam, ‘ignorance was bliss.’
A revolution in hydropower makes waves in rural Colorado
Big dams were the hydro giants of yesteryear. The future of hydropower is small.
The uncompromising environmentalist behind the Sierra Club
A new book details the rise of the Sierra Club from hiking group to political force.
The tiny power plant that shapes the Colorado River — merely by existing
The Shoshone power plant is the cornerstone for water rights in the upper river.
After Oroville, officials across the West review dam safety
The California dam’s spillways are ready for rain as safety officials prepare for future catastrophes.
Down with the Glen Canyon Dam?
Activists claim that decommissioning the dam will save water and restore a wild canyon. Are they right?
After its dams came down, a river is reborn
A look at the Elwha unleashed.
Congress seeks to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act
House Republicans hope killing sea lions will restore waning salmon populations.