Elkhorn ruling boosts state authority

Journal Article · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Fisheries

OSTI ID:81224

Beecher, H A ^[1]

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1. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, WA (United States)

On 31 May 1994, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision expanded state authority to establish conditions to protect water quality and included stream flows, aesthetics, and, potentially, other elements in a broad definition of water quality. Called the {open_quotes}Elkhorn case{close_quotes} the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Washington Department of Ecology has authority to set instream flows for fish (primarily steelhead, chinook, and coho salmon) as a condition of a Water Quality Certification (WQC) issued by the state under Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The case surrounded the petitioners (applicants) proposed building of the Elkhorn Hydroelectric Project on the Dosewallips River, Washington. The project would have consisted of a dam near the boundary of Olympic National Park and a pipeline to carry diverted water around a 1.2-mile bypass reach to a powerhouse at Olympic National Forest`s Elkhorn Campground.

• OSTI ID: 81224
• Journal Information: Fisheries, Journal Name: Fisheries Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 20; ISSN FISHDN; ISSN 0363-2415
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
ECOLOGY
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
FLOW RATE
HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS
REGULATIONS
SALMON
STREAMS
WATER QUALITY