The U.S. Senate recently introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA). If passed, this harmful bill would severely weaken longstanding protections under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act. While it sounds like progress, in reality, It would allow dangerous projects – such as pipelines, power plants, and data centers – to move forward with less environmental scrutiny and fewer opportunities for public input.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Trash-o-Ween this Halloween! We were amazed to see so many wonderful costumes and a big crowd ready to make an impact on the Spokane River.

Here at Spokane Riverkeeper, we collect a lot of data on water quality, so when a report of an algal bloom in Lake Spokane came in we jumped into gear. Lake Spokane has historically had harmful algal blooms due to the high levels of nutrients-mainly phosphorous- from upstream causing rapid algal growth. The decay of these algae cause dissolved oxygen issues as well but that’s a story for another day.