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February 10 Curriculum for the Bioregion: Strengthening Sustainability-across-the-Curriculum on Our Campuses” co-hosted by Evergreen State College and Spokane Community College. CELP will be presenting on a Spokane watershed case study.

-where: Spokane Community College - College Lair.

- more info: Curriculum for the Bioregion

February 18 Winter Waters Celebration - honoring Deb Abrahamson (SHAWL) and former Spokane mayor Mary Verner. An annual event hosted by CELP & Sierra Club’s Upper Columbia River Group.

-where: Patsy Clark Mansion (2208 West 2nd Ave, Spokane)
-when: 6:30 - 10 p.m., Saturday evening

- more info: Winter Waters 2012

February 21. Opportunity and Crisis - the Renegotiation of the Columbia River Treaty - Suzanne Skinner at the AWRA - Washington Chapter.

-when: 7 p.m.
-where: Pyramid Ale House, 1201 1st Ave. South, Seattle

March 1-4 Univ. of Oregon Law School Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, Eugene. CELP will be coordinating panel on citizen activism/exempt wells/Washington water law.

- more info: click here.

March 13 KPBX Public Health Forum, "Northwest Water: Your Health, Your Life" Public forum will focus on links between Spokane River pollution and public health.

-more info: click here.

March 25 World Water Day Forum: Social Justice & Water Sponsored by Spokane Chapter United Nations Association. Rachael Osborn speaking on “The Columbia River Treaty.” Other panelists include Mara London and Stacy Taninchev

Where: Gonzaga University (location TBD)

When: 4:00 to 5:30

CELP Water Heroes

Russell Busch &

Harriet Bullitt

View: - Movie about Russ & Harriet
- Governor’s proclamations
- Un-damming rivers:
Two who fought for salmon

Click here for more ...

January 19 CELP & Sierra Club released an economic review by a retired WSU economist Norm Whittlesey that is critical of a state-funded agricultural lobby group's report that purports to justify $250 million in state-issued bond debt to expand surface water irrigation to agricultural lands eastern Washington.

- View more.

January 9 Legislature in session.

CELP is working hard to protect the public interest in the state’s water resources, rresented by our lobbyist, Bruce Wishart. Click here for updates on water bills.

December 23 State Supreme Court issues split 6-3 decision, affirms AG McKenna’s decision opening state’s groundwater to industrial animal feedlots.

view: Groundwater (mis)management.

view: Five Corners Family Farmers website

December 9 CLE - Washington Water Law & the Public Trust

view: CLE pictures

CLE Keynote: Water & the Creative Moments in the History of Environmental Law

Prof. William H. Rodgers

Stimson Bullitt Professor of Environmental Law

Univ. of Washington School of Law

November 1 Bureau’s latest Odessa proposal: bad for taxpayers, environment. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s latest proposal would add to the Columbia River’s woes and cost to taxpayers. The Bureau’s preferred alternative side-steps public review, effectively shutting out the public. The federal agency projects release of the final DIS in January or February. view news release and links.

October 24 Clean Water Act lawsuit filed on behalf of PCB-polluted Spokane River.

CELP and Sierra Club’s UPper Columbia River Group filed a lawsuit in federal court to require EPA to write a clean-up plan (called a “total maximum daily load” or TMDL) for the PCB-polluted Spokane River. view news release.

September 28 Trading stream flow for habitat? City of Yelm CELP filed a letter of concern on a draft water right for City of Yelm. CELP raised concerns about “out-of-kind” mitigation: exchanging instream flow for habitat.

- CELP: City of Yelm ROE No. G2-29085

September 28 Similkameen River: Okanogan PUD voluntarily surrenders proposal to build Shankers Bend Dam.

The proposed dam would flood Palmer Lake, a popular fishing lake with many private homes, a Superfund site, and seven miles into Canada. Canadians have vigorously opposed the new dam. The Similkameen River is an international river and treasure.

View: News Release

View: CELP website on the Shankers Bend Dam

September 14 Earthjustice files letter on behalf of CELP with King County. The letter asks King County how it will manage water adequacy determinations regarding building permits and subdivisions in the wake of the State Supreme Court decision in Kittitas County vs EWGMHB. view letter.

September 13 CELP: Water illegally diverted needs to be restored

A “sprintboat racetrack park” (above) threatens wetlands, groundwaters, and a salmon stream near Port Angeles. On Monday, Sept. 12, CELP and the Dry Creek Coalition sent a letter to the Washington Dept of Ecology asking the state agency to direct A2Z Enterprises to return illegally-diverted water to wetlands near Port Angeles. In early September A2Z pumped an estimated 1 million gallons into an aquatic racetrack, where it intends to hold "sprintboat" races on September 17. Photos: Dry Creek Coalition

View: more photos

View: website on Dry Creek

August 11 Suzanne Skinner selected as CELP’s next Executive Director

Suzanne Skinner has been selected to serve as its next executive director, starting in October. CELP co-founder Rachael Paschal Osborn and current executive director will transition to the organization's senior staff attorney. CELP, as an advocate for the public interest in protecting drinking water aquifers and river flows, is at the center of the growing public debate over water scarcity and the future of water in a changing climate.

"I share CELP's advocacy for water," said Skinner. "Water sustains our fisheries, the Tribes, our economy, food, and life itself. I intend to continue CELP's extraordinary water advocacy in the state, region, and nation."

View: more on Suzanne Skinner

July 28 State Supreme Court slams Kittitas County on water

“In a stinging defeat, the state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Kittitas County failed to protect groundwater resources while making land-use decisions on rural housing developments.” David Lester, Yakima Herald.

View: full article

View: Kittitas County Groundwater

July 23 Port Angeles gathering focuses on CELP’s work to protect Elwha River flows.

CELP supporters gathered at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center for brunch and updates on threats to Elwha River flows. Even as plans move forward to remove the two dams on the Elwha, the River is threatened by water rights that risk diversions.

View: CELP & the Elwha River

July 22 OpEd: WSU water rights case

“How much water does WSU really need? And if the university is getting by with less water, why are its administrators spending tens of thousands of dollars on attorney fees to protect paper water rights that they do not need? What do they plan to do with these rights? Sell them?”

- Scotty Cornelius (Cornelius et al vs WSU)

Click for OpEd

info: WSU Water Mining

July 18 River Advocates to EPA: Uphold the law, protect the Spokane River from toxic pollution

On July 18 Sierra Club and the Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP) filed a “60-day notice” directed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failure to require the Washington Department of Ecology to prepare a water quality cleanup plan for PCBs in the Spokane River. If EPA fails to act, the two organizations will file a federal lawsuit after 60 days.

info: Sierra Club’s Spokane River Project; River Wars

July 6 Water Rates, Conservation, and the Future of Water in the Spokane River & Aquifer

Cable 5 TV: Spokane Councilman Richard Rush interviews Robert Lindsay (Water Resources Manager for Spokane County), Rachael Paschal Osborn (public interest water lawyer), and Marnie Rorholm (City of Spokane’s Water Stwardship program).

View “City Council Connection”

July 4-5 David Getches and Richard Rivers: losing two friends and two leaders.

July 3 Skagit River Editorial: There isn’t as much water as we may think.

For all its seeming abundance in the Skagit River basin, water is a finite resource.

We have long taken the availability of 'this life-giving substance for granted.

But no more. It will take a careful balancing act to distribute water equitably to preserve fish, serve agriculture and the growing urban demand. ... (click here for more)

June 28 Ken Slattery honored for his public service on water.

- Wash. official says water a serious concern.

June 16 - Stockwater Loophole Challenge: Supreme Court

-> To watch a film of the oral argument, click here

-> For background, click here

Our Earthjustice attorneys, friends, and CELP after the hearing.

June 6 WSU Golf Course / declining Grande Ronde Aquifer challenge: Oral argument in State Superior Court challenging WSU’s paper water rights.

For more information: click here.

May 3 Challenging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation over management of the Columbia River.

Sean Malone (attorney - Eugene, OR) & Lauren Goldberg (Columbia Riverkeeper)

Hearing before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the Lake Roosevelt Drawdown.

On May 3, Sean presented oral argument before a 3-judge panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle. The judges were engaged (a “hot” panel) - and you can listen to the oral argument by clicking here.

Links:

- Lake Roosevelt Drawdown

-Federal Court of Appeals

April 22 Water walkers gather at Spokane Falls.

American Indian women aim to raise awareness of shared threat. Spokesman-Review, April 23. click here.

Links: Mother Earth Water Walk

Water flows uphill to power and money. Governments have over-allocated the public’s water. Citizens struggling with depletion of drinking water aquifers, streams, and rivers have almost no place to turn. So CELP created Water Rights 9-1-1 to connect local citizens and water advocates with CELP’s water law expertise. Below are a few of the people we are helping.

Closing the Stockwater Loophole

Industrial feedlots are using a controversial loophole in state water law, threatening fragile aquifers and existing water users statewide. click here.

photo: Scott Collins / Five Corners Family Farmers

Reforming Exempt Well Abuse

Aqua Permanente and CELP are challenging mismanagement of groundwaer in the Upper Yakima River Basin. Currently more than 7,000 permit-exempt wells are being drilled EACH YEAR in Washington state. Exempt wells are fueling rural sprawl, and used in unlimited quantities for feedlots and dairies. Because these wells are not subject to regulation, there is no control over when and where they are drilled. There is also no control over the impact of these wells on other water users and on hydraulically connected streams.

Click here for more.

(photo: Melissa Bates, Aqua Permanente)

Friends of Waterway 1

Friends of Waterway 1 are staunch advocates of returning the park to the public, and restoring its ecological health. Their vision for native plant re-vegetation, improved water quality, habitat for small creatures, and a green space for the neighborhood is a labor of love. In Seattle, open spaces like Waterway No. 1 are an essential element of the urban quality of life. For details, visit the Friends of Waterway 1 website at www.waterway1.org.

(photo: Kate Lloyd and Judy Thornton. Photo credit: Jerry Gettel)

Restoring Water to Spokane Falls

Sierra Club and CELP, partnering with the U. of W. Berman Environmental Law Clinic - reached a settlement with Avista to restore water to Spokane Falls.Key to the settlement was Avista's agreement to restore the bed of Spokane Falls, damaged by construction of mills and sewers. CELP and Sierra Club are partnering with Avista to restore this beautiful waterfalls.

(photo: Paula Whitson and John Osborn)