RIVERS -- Following a road-show of meetings this fall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration will host two public scoping webinars on Dec. 13 to present information and take more comment on the operations of 14 federal hydropower projects in the Columbia River Basin.

More than 200 people turned out in Spokane at the Davenport Hotel on Nov. 14 for an open house on Columbia-Snake River dam operations, as reported by the S-R's Becky Kramer. Federal agencies are gathering public comments as they prepare a new environmental review of the system’s impact on salmon and steelhead.

Then the agency moved the displays for a meeting in Lewiston where more than 300 people showed up.

Some groups are pushing for the removal of four Snake River dams to assure survival of wild salmon and steelhead. Other groups support keeping the dams to facilitate shipping and hydropower.

The electronic meetings announced last week are scheduled for those who were unable to attend one of the 16 face‐to-face
meetings scheduled across the Pacific Northwest Oct. 24-Dec. 8.

The webinars will be Dec. 13, the first at 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and then again at 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. PST.

Click here for detailed instructions for participating in the webinars and making comments.