Four Decades, No Progress: Time for a Columbia River Basin Compact

Authors

• Liesl L. Bogaard, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

Since the Power Act’s passage in 1980, the government entities who develop and implement energy policy in the Pacific Northwest have operated under a congressional mandate to protect fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. However, nearly half a century later, the number of wild salmon and steelhead returning to their native spawning grounds is still in decline, largely due to dam operations in the Columbia and its tributaries. This Note examines the history of hydroelectric power generation in the Columbia River Basin and its impact on fish populations, drawing parallels between the environmental crisis in the Columbia River Basin and the century of negotiations that resulted in the Great Lakes Compact in 2008. Against the backdrop of the current hyper-deregulatory administration, this Note argues that the four Columbia River Basin states—Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington—should establish an interstate compact to address environmental harms imposed by dams in the basin. A compact would offer both a drafting process led by the states, who could tailor policies to their individual needs, and a federally binding solution to an environmental emergency that has remained unsolved for several decades.

Recommended Citation

Liesl L. Bogaard, Four Decades, No Progress: Time for a Columbia River Basin Compact, 15 Mich. J. Env't. & Admin. L. 333 (2026).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjeal/vol15/iss2/6