Columbia River Basin

View from Dog Mountain Trail in Skamania County, WA.

Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue Roll on Columbia, roll on - Woody Guthrie

The magnificent Columbia River Basin covers a major portion of the landscape of North America, including parts of seven states and British Columbia. The basin provides drainage for hundreds of tributaries over an area of more than 260,000 square miles into a river near 1,200 miles in length. The Columbia River Basin continues to provide an important North American backdrop for urban settlement and development, agriculture, transportation, recreation, fisheries and hydropower. It also serves as a unique and special ecosystem, home to many important plants and animals. Read more...

State of the River Report for Toxics

The State of the River Report for Toxics is a summary of what we know about four widespread contaminants in the Columbia River Basin: mercury, DDT and its breakdown products, PCBs, and PBDE flame retardants. The report also highlights many important efforts to reduce toxics already underway in the Basin. Read more...

Columbia River: A National Priority

The Columbia River Basin has been designated a member of EPA's Large Aquatic Ecosystem (LAE) Council along with nine other geographic-based efforts that focus on protecting and restoring the health of critical aquatic ecosystems. The LAE Council merges geographically-based efforts with national water programs to advance the health of the Nation’s large aquatic ecosystems and strengthen national water programs.

In EPA’s 2006-2011 Strategic Plan, the Columbia River was elevated to one of our Nation’s great water bodies, joining the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, South Florida Ecosystem, Long Island Sound and Puget Sound. As the Agency’s road map for future work efforts, the strategic plan sets environmental targets which will help to move toward a healthier river:

Protect, enhance, or restore 13,000 acres of wetland habitat and 3,000 acres of upland habitat in the Lower Columbia River watershed.
Clean up 150 acres of known highly contaminated sediments.
Demonstrate a 10% reduction in mean concentration of contaminants of concern found in water and fish tissue.

Columbia River Baseline Document for 2009-2014 (PDF) (8 pp. 62K)

Columbia River Baseline Document for 2006-2011 (PDF) (5 pp. 60K)

2009 Strategic Plan Progress Report (PDF) (28 pp. 975K)