In 2024, the River Cleanup Program aimed to restore and protect the Spokane River through coordinated efforts that involved local communities, volunteers, partner organizations, and city officials. Over the course of the year, we successfully removed 67,110lbs of trash with the help of 2,318 volunteers during 129 clean up events. This report highlights our major accomplishments, challenges, and the impact of our efforts, setting the stage for continued progress in the coming year.
On February 27th, The Garland Theater came alive with the magic of cinema and fly fishing as the 2025 International Film Festival took center stage. This year’s festival was a remarkable celebration of film, creativity, and community, attracting fly fishing enthusiasts, river supporters and movie popcorn lovers from throughout our region.
A minor flooding event on Hangman Creek in February increased sediment, debris, and pollutants in the Spokane River for over a week, leading to higher turbidity. These changes stress the river's ecosystem and affect water quality long-term.
If you’ve been near the confluence of Hangman (Latah) Creek and the Spokane River this week, you’ve seen it—the river running thick with brown sediment, turning the water into a muddy plume that stretches for miles downstream. This dramatic transformation comes after a major rain-on-snow event, where warm rain rapidly melted accumulated snow, saturating the soil and flushing huge amounts of sediment into the creek. These events aren’t new—but how common are they, and how have they changed over time? To answer that, we looked at historical hydrology data from 1948 to 2023 to see how this year’s event compares to past peak flows.
A new bill (SB 5712 and companion HB 1937) moving through the Washington Legislature could weaken clean water protections, give polluters a free pass, and strip the Department of Ecology of its ability to enforce industrial stormwater rules. If passed, it would make immediate changes to industrial stormwater management—without any public input.
We’re excited to announce an important new addition to the Spokane Riverkeeper team! Please join us in welcoming Anne Tenold as our new Development Manager.
For centuries, the Spokane River’s flow has been shaped by a predictable rhythm: snow falling in the mountains during the winter and melting in the spring to sustain the river through the dry summer months. But now, that rhythm is changing, and with it, the future of the river is being rewritten.
Sometimes even new infrastructure doesn’t work as planned, and that’s what happened recently with a stormwater treatment facility in Spokane. Built to keep untreated runoff out of the Spokane River, the system hit a snag during a big storm, causing some overflow and pollution concerns.
For the first time, data submitted by Spokane Riverkeeper played a crucial role in Ecology’s assessment, setting a powerful example of how community efforts can drive meaningful environmental action.
Yesterday, October 29, the U.S. EPA issued a Final PCB TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) for the Spokane River and Little Spokane River. This TMDL is a result of years of advocacy, scientific research, and legal action aimed at reducing harmful PCB pollution affecting our river and community health. However, we are disappointed in the final plan, and do not believe it will sufficiently reduce PCB levels in the river.
Dirty water is gross! And it’s also pollution. The sediment laden water from Hangman Creek pollutes the Spokane River, contributing to issues downstream such as the low dissolved oxygen in Lake Spokane. Levels of pollution that we see in Hangman Creek and the Spokane River can also cause issues with salmonid growth and reproduction. This is important because we still have wild, native redband trout in our river and an effort by the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane Tribes to return salmon to our watershed. Check out the photo gallery below! If you’d like to participate starting this December, make sure to sign up for our Community Science email list, or our general email list!
This November, your vote can make a real difference for the Spokane River and our community. Climate change poses an urgent challenge, affecting water quality, river health, and the ecosystems that depend on clean, flowing water. This election season, several ballot initiatives will challenge existing efforts to address these critical issues. Learn more about the pertinent initiatives and why we are opposing them in this article from Water Protector Katelyn Scott.
Urban rivers, like the Spokane River, face many challenges from various pollutants, one of which is a relatively new and concerning chemical: 6PPD-quinone. Learn more about the impacts of 6PPD-quinone, the Spokane River's vulnerability, and how new regulations protect our state's waterways.
Water conservation is more important than ever to protect the health of the Spokane River and ensure it remains a vibrant hub for recreation. On July 24, 2024, City Council declared a drought emergency, causing the Level 2 restrictions to come into action. We share more about the River-Aquifer connection and why water conservation is so important for a healthy river.
How does water temperature respond to the low flows and hot days? Read on to find out.
Spokane Riverkeeper, alongside several other environmental stakeholders, have been working hard to clean up the PCB contamination in the Spokane River and Little Spokane River. We submitted a comment letter to the EPA asking them to address significant concerns we have with the draft plan, particularly to ensure that the plan adequately addresses the human health concerns with PCBs.
We joined up Expo 50 Tribal Pillar leaders, Jeff Ferguson and Margo Hill Ferguson and other environmental and community leaders for the Indigenous and Environmental Film Festival at the Garland Theater. Find the films at more about the host organization.
2024 was the ninth canoe journey to Kettle Falls to call home the salmon. This year, Legal Intern, Maddy Chabot paddled with the canoes for 8 days. Read more about the journey and the impact it has.
On June 28, 2024, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce overturning the long-standing Chevron doctrine and changing the landscape of federal regulatory enforcement.
On April 16, 2024, Washington Department of Ecology declared a statewide drought emergency. In Spokane, where the flowing river defines the City landscape, the impact of drought can be particularly significant. But what exactly does a drought declaration from the Washington Department of Ecology mean, and how does it affect our River?