All News – River Talk

Water Trail to improve Spokane River access

Getting people to experience the Spokane River – whether it’s with hip waders, a kayak, raft or canoe – could help protect wildlife habitat, improve understanding of local history, and increase non-motorized access to the river. The Spokesman Review reports on the possibility of a Spokane River Water Trail.

That’s the theory of “water trail” proponents, who’ve spent the past year brainstorming ways to raise the 111-mile river’s profile. The trail concept was unveiled at a Tuesday conference sponsored by the Spokane River Forum.

Idaho dischargers, Inland Empire Paper and Avista request dispute resolution over Ecology’s dissolved oxygen TMDL (water cleanup plan)

In late February, a dispute resolution process regarding the Dissolved Oxygen TMDL submitted by Washington Department of Ecology to EPA for approval was requested by the City of Post Falls, Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board, the City of Coeur d’Alene, and Inland Empire Paper company. On March 12th, Avista also requested dispute resolution.

Spokane Riverkeeper serves City of Spokane notice over PCB discharges to Spokane River

On behalf of the Spokane Riverkeeper, Gonzaga Law School’s Environmental Law Clinic today filed a sixty day “notice of violation” with the City of Spokane as a precedent to bringing a federal citizen enforcement lawsuit under the Clean Water Act. Read the Center for Justice news release.