Fishing tribes watch as states update water quality standards

Monday, April 1, 2013  

Tribes in the Pacific Northwest are leading efforts to improve water quality standards.

Oregon upgraded its standards in 2011 in response to a study that showed members of tribes with treaty rights on the Columbia River consumed large amounts of fish. Now the states of Washington and Idaho are getting on board in hopes of addressing pollutants and other issues.

“We need to find the source of the problem,” Joel Moffett, the vice chairman of the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, told High Country News. “The water issues are not just from these large corporations and industries that have to get permits.”

Get the Story:
How fish consumption determines water quality (High Country News 4/1)