Judge Says Cool The Rivers. Group Says Remove The Dams.

KENNEWICK — The federal government is required to come up with a plan to help protect salmon in the Snake and Columbia rivers from water that’s too warm for the cold-water fish. The ruling made Wednesday by U.S. Judge Ricardo Martinez is another piece of evidence on the side of removing the four lower Snake River dams, said Miles Johnson, senior attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper. Columbia Riverkeeper, along with four other groups, filed a lawsuit in February 2017 against the Environmental Protection Agency, saying it failed to come up with a plan for maximum daily temperatures to protect salmon from hot water. Other plaintiffs were Idaho Rivers United, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Snake River Waterkeeper and The Institute for Fisheries Resources. The lawsuit in Western Washington District U.S.