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Department of Ecology News Release - March 31, 2004
04-058
"We appreciate the effort the National Research Council put into evaluating whether new water allocations may be made from the Columbia River without threatening fish. This report represents an important element in our efforts to develop a long-term water management program for the Columbia basin. The findings and recommendations clearly illustrate how complicated this issue is, and how challenging it will be to reach solutions.
"Over the next month, we'll be reading and digesting the panel's advice to the state, and reaching out to get others' advice on how to proceed. This study, along with the economic analysis we received from the University of Washington in January, provides important information to use as we draft a proposal for managing Columbia River water. We remain committed to developing and implementing a scientifically based water management program that provides for multiple needs into the future.
"We expect to have something more concrete to share around the end of April."
Note: The National Research Council is part of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Ecology's media contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, public information officer, 509-575-2610
Links to NAS report:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cri/crinsr.html
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10962.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
