Robyn Gottlieb

River Advocates Applaud Ruling Protecting North Umpqua Water Quality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 14, 2020 CONTACT: Jim McCarthy, WaterWatch of Oregon, 541-708-0048, jim@waterwatch.org River Advocates Applaud Ruling Protecting North Umpqua Water Quality Administrative Law Judge Finds Botched Winchester Dam Repairs Not Exempt From Law Link to Ruling: https://bit.ly/39vGBAZ Advocates’ August 2020 Letter Regarding Winchester Dam’s Pollution Record: https://bit.ly/2K4ZkKg DEQ’s Amended Notice of Civil Penalty […]

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Oregon Water Allocation May Complicate “Live Flows” Irrigation

By Mateusz Perkowski  |  Jan. 8, 2021  |  Capital Press Oregon irrigators may face complications from the commitment of about 1 million acre-feet of water behind Willamette Valley dams to in-stream environmental purposes. Until now, state water regulators have treated water released from the 13 dams as “live flows,” which can be accessed by irrigators

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River Advocates Await Ruling on Botched Winchester Dam Repair

MEDIA ADVISORY: December 9, 2020 CONTACT: Jim McCarthy, WaterWatch of Oregon, 541-708-0048, jim@waterwatch.org River Advocates Await Ruling on Botched Winchester Dam Repair 2018 Incident on North Umpqua River Killed Fish, Polluted Drinking Water for 37,700 People DEQ’s January 2020 Notice of Civil Penalty to Basco Logging: https://bit.ly/3lTYVb8 Agency Documents and Photos Regarding 2018 Pollution Spill:

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Fishermen, Conservationists Score Another Win Against Outlaw Dam

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 2, 2020 CONTACT: Jim McCarthy, WaterWatch of Oregon, 541-708-0048, jim@waterwatch.org Fishermen, Conservationists Score Another Win Against Outlaw Dam High-hazard Winchester Dam to Comply with Public Safety Regulations for First Time in Decades River Advocates’ October 2020 Letter Regarding Winchester Dam Safety: https://bit.ly/2VvTwfo Winchester Dam’s October 2019 State Safety Inspection Letter: https://bit.ly/3g4tedU

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Fishermen, Conservationists Go to Court Over Outlaw Dam

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 10, 2020   CONTACT: Jim McCarthy, WaterWatch of Oregon, 541-708-0048, jim@waterwatch.org   Fishermen, Conservationists Go to Court Over Outlaw Dam Dilapidated, high-hazard Winchester Dam is harming fish, water quality, and livelihoods   Court filing available here. Winchester Dam fact sheet available here.   Roseburg ¬– Steamboaters, WaterWatch of Oregon, and the

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Fishing and Environmental Groups File Suit in Eugene Over Umpqua River Dam

Gillian Flaccus  |  Nov. 11, 2020  |  Associated Press A coalition of environmental and fishing groups are suing a water district in southern Oregon over an aging, privately owned dam that they say hinders the passage of struggling salmon populations in the pristine North Umpqua River. The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in

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Deschutes River Conservation Plan Fails to Restore River, Fish, Frogs

For Immediate Release, November 5, 2020 Contact: Tod Heisler, Central Oregon Land Watch, (510) 480-2388, tod@colw.org Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495, ngreenwald@biologicaldiversity.org Kimberley Priestley, WaterWatch of Oregon, kjp@waterwatch.org Deschutes River Conservation Plan Fails to Restore River, Fish, Frogs Federal Plan Preserves Unsustainable Flows, Water Waste for Decades BEND, Ore.— A final habitat

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Debate Over Canal Piping Heats Up

Conservationist urges irrigation districts to focus on water markets by Michael Kohn | April 10, 2020 | Bend Bulletin For decades, Rob Rastovich relied on flood irrigation to water the hay fields on his family-owned ranch outside Bend. The system was archaic and wasted large amounts of water, which ran off the edge of his 200-acre

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Murmurs: Businesses Seek Relief From Tax Measures (See: Salmon Wars Continue)

By WW Staff | March 18, 2020 | Willamette Week   BUSINESSES SEEK TAX MEASURE RELIEF: Oregon business groups, facing crushing pressure from COVID-19 impacts, on March 17 proposed 14 steps the state could take to help. Among the biggest: “Delay implementation of the new corporate activities tax, at least for the first quarter of 2020, so

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Guest Opinion: Crystal Ball: Irrigators, Feds Play Trump Cards to Shortchange the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers

by John DeVoe, WaterWatch Executive Director | 25 Sept 2019 | The Bend Source Weekly   On Oct. 4, a long awaited proposal from eight irrigation districts and the City of Prineville called a Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) will be made public. The Plan, and an accompanying draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will outline and

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Interview with WaterWatch Executive Director John DeVoe on XRAY Radio’s Non-Profit Happy Hour

Recently, WaterWatch executive director John DeVoe sat down with Phil Busse, journalist and host of XRAY Radio’s “The Non-Profit Hour.” The two talked about all things water during a leisurely half-hour conversation that also included tidbits on Handel and James McMurtry’s “Levelland.” Click to listen to their conversation.

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Rights to water stored by Willamette dams up for grabs; cities, farmers, fish compete

FOR 30 YEARS, POWERFUL OREGON INTERESTS INCLUDING CITIES, FARMERS, INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE BEEN SLUGGING IT OUT FOR ACCESS TO THE WATER. Bill Poehler and Tracy Loew, Salem Statesman Journal Published 6:00 a.m. PT May 29, 2019 | Updated 9:21 a.m. PT May 30, 2019 Billions of gallons of water have been hidden behind the

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Columbia River Treaty Negotiating Team out of step with Northwest Values Sept 6 in Portland: Northwest residents encouraged to speak with U.S. State Department at Town Hall meeting on future of the Columbia River and Treaty

News Release Contact: Greg Haller greg@pacificrivers.org (208) 790-4105 (Pacific Rivers) Joseph Bogaard joseph@wildsalmon.org (206) 286-4455 (Save Our Wild Salmon/SOS) Trish Rolfe ­trolfe@celp.org (206) 829-8299 (Center for Environmental Law & Policy/CELP) John Osborn MD ­ john@waterplanet.ws (509) 939-1290 (Sierra Club) Letter to State Department: <http://www.waterplanet.ws/pdf/Letter_to_State_Dept_083118.pdf> A broad coalition of conservation, sports, and fishing organizations today delivered

Columbia River Treaty Negotiating Team out of step with Northwest Values Sept 6 in Portland: Northwest residents encouraged to speak with U.S. State Department at Town Hall meeting on future of the Columbia River and Treaty Read More »

Judge: Feds “Cherry-Picked Legal Interpretations” to Favor Agribusiness Over Waterfowl on Klamath Basin Refuges U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ordered to release documents acknowledging law allows removal of harmful commercial agribusiness from refuge lands

For Immediate Release April 9, 2018 Contacts: Jim McCarthy, WaterWatch of Oregon, 541-708-0731 Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland, 503-380-9728 Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild, 503-283-6343 Maura Fahey, Crag Law Center, 503-525-2722 Medford, OR – A U.S. Magistrate Judge has issued a ruling ordering the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to release key portions of

Judge: Feds “Cherry-Picked Legal Interpretations” to Favor Agribusiness Over Waterfowl on Klamath Basin Refuges U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ordered to release documents acknowledging law allows removal of harmful commercial agribusiness from refuge lands Read More »

Klamath Advocates Condemn Bureau of Reclamations Willful Destruction of the Everglades of the West

For Immediate Release March 26, 2018 Contacts: Jim McCarthy, WaterWatch of Oregon, (541) 708-0731 Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland, (503) 380-9728 Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild, (503) 283-6342 Conservationists Call on Gov. Kate Brown, Senators Wyden and Merkley to Stop Likely Catastrophic Waterfowl Die-Off, Hold Bureau Accountable for Longstanding Waste and Abuse Today three conservation

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Klamath Refuge Wildlife Have Day in Court

For Immediate Release January 8, 2018 Contacts: Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland, (503) 380-9728 Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild, (503) 283-6342 Jim McCarthy, WaterWatch of Oregon, (541) 708-0731 Conservationists Challenge Improper Management Plan for “Everglades of the West” MEDFORD – Today three conservation groups, Audubon Society of Portland, Oregon Wild and WaterWatch of Oregon argued

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Conservation, fishing and faith groups applaud announcement that negotiations over the future of the Columbia River Treaty will begin in 2018

December 11, 2017 For Immediate Release Contact: Greg Haller, Conservation Director at Pacific Rivers: (503) 228-3555; greg@pacificrivers.org Joseph Bogaard, Executive Director at Save our Wild Salmon Coalition: (206) 300-1003; joseph@wildsalmon.org On December 7th the U.S. Department of State announced that formal negotiations with Canada over the fate of the fifty-three year old U.S.-Canada Columbia River

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