8/3 White sturgeon, smoke, coal plant, Site C dam, bull trout

White sturgeon [Fisheries and Oceans Canada]

Fraser River White Sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus
A survivor from the age of the dinosaurs, white sturgeon can attain lengths in excess of six meters, weights of over 600 kilograms, and can live for over 150 years. … The white sturgeon is the largest and longest-lived species of freshwater fish in North America.  The ancient fish is at the top of the Fraser River food web, and one of the few year-round resident species of fish in the lower Fraser River. The population of white sturgeon in the lower Fraser River (downstream of Hell’s Gate) is a fraction of its historic levels. (Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society)

Wildfire Smoke From Canada Expected To Keep On Coming Into Washington And Oregon
Winds from the north and northeast have carried wildfire smoke from British Columbia over Washington and Oregon. And forecasts predict smoke will keep coming and continue to blanket Washington and Oregon throughout the weekend. In eastern Washington, the winds will shift and bring smoke from Montana. And, in western Washington and Oregon, the winds will bring back smoke that’s drifted over the Pacific.  Eilís O'Neill reports. (KUOW/EarthFix)

Environmental advocates call for Bellevue-based Puget Sound Energy’s closure of Montana coal plant
Bellevue was flushed with green on Monday. Several state environmental groups and residents across the county packed Bellevue City Hall’s council chambers during a public hearing with the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commissioners. Their mission? To tell the commission to put Puget Sound Energy on a debt schedule that would close a coal plant in Montana by 2025. Raechel Dawson reports. (Bellevue Reporter) See also: US gives Montana $4.6 million for retraining coal workers  Bobby Caina Calvan reports. (Associated Press)

B.C. asks utilities commission to review $8.8-billion Site C dam megaproject
British Columbia's New Democrat government has asked the province's utilities commission to review the $8.8-billion Site C dam, throwing into doubt one of former premier Christy Clark's major accomplishments. Energy Minister Michelle Mungall says the regulator will be tasked with determining the economic viability of the megaproject, with interim results in six weeks and a final report in three months. Mungall says the commission has been asked to confirm whether BC Hydro is on target to complete Site C on budget and by 2024, and provide advice on whether to proceed, suspend or terminate it. (Canadian press)

Will Years Of Work To Save One Fish Run Be For Naught?
A chilly pool of water forms at the base of Clear Creek dam in Washington’s Cascade mountains. Somewhere — hiding in the depths of the water — are several bull trout. They’ve migrated up this creek and are hoping to make it to cooler waters at higher elevations. But they’re out of luck. “They’re just stuck down here,” said Jeff Thomas, a fish biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In their way is a big slab of concrete, a dam built in 1914. Courtney Flatt reports. (NW Public Radio/EarthFix)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  301 AM PDT Thu Aug 3 2017  
TODAY  E wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. NW swell 4 ft  at 8 seconds. Smoke.
TONIGHT  W wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. W swell 4 ft  at 8 seconds. Smoke.

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