The Trump administration is pushing back a review into how dams on the Columbia River system could be operated to benefit endangered salmon and steelhead population, extending a deadline set under the previous White House by nearly two months.
In a joint statement Thursday night, both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation announced a new May 9 deadline for a supplemental environmental impact statement focused on 14 dams on the waterway. Related public meetings are also being rescheduled to take place in April, instead of next week.
“This extension will allow additional time to receive vital public input and engagement on this important topic,” the agencies said in the statement. The deadline had been in March. “USACE and Reclamation are committed to transparency and meaningful public participation, and both agencies are still available to discuss the SEIS and provide information related to this process.”
The review, which began in late December under the Biden administration, was triggered by the “Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement,” the name of the $1 billion settlement agreement reached in 2023 between the federal government and plaintiffs in a lawsuit centered on hydropower operations on the waterway.
