PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Oregon has denied a request to reduce the volume of water released from the Grand Coulee Dam that has killed fish raised in pens downstream.
Judge James Redden said Friday he was sympathetic to the operators of the fish farm, who say thousands of fish have died and millions others are at risk. Pacific Aquaculture cited federal protections for the fish under the Endangered Species Act.
Redden rejected that argument, saying the company hadn’t shown that wild fish protected by the law were in the water immediately below the dam. The act doesn’t protect farmed fish.
Federal water managers have increased dam releases to prepare for expected heavy runoff of mountain snow and to prevent flooding in downstream cities such as Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash.
