Center for Environmental Law & Policy

05/02/2026

Our Spring Newsletter is out!

Please share!

Washington Water Watch – Spring 2026 May 1, 2026 Center for Environmental Law & Policy Washington Water Watch – Spring 2026 In this Issue Message from Chris Wilke, Executive Director GiveBIG for Washington Waters! Ralph Johnson Award Nominations Open Skagit Dam Relicensing and Mitigation Statewi...

04/23/2026

🌍 Today, for we thought we'd join others in sharing an image of the well-known Climate .

What's different about this image? See below👇

Globally, the last 3 years were the 3 warmest years in history, and the last 11 were the warmest 11! With El Niño returning rapidly, 2026 is unfortunately poised for another run at the records. Stay tuned.

This image is calibrated specifically for our region (based on Seattle data), with data current through the end of 2025.

For the 3 years, and now entering our 4th, we also have state droughts declared due to low mountain snowpack that feeds our streams. This is not a surprise. As the climate continues to warm, models predict this will occur at least 40% of the time by the 2040s and that already tracks with trends we see over just the last few years.

Drought means low stream flows and more pressure on salmon, the ecosystem as a whole, and human systems that rely on natural water availability.
It impacts both water quality and water quantity.

This is why work to protect flows and stream habitat IS important climate work.







Image credit: (Professor Ed Hawkins, climate warming stripes creator)

👀 To view more climate stripes overlays of ours or other regions, visit the University of Reading's page (link in the comments).

🔗 You can link to our site there as well to read about our work!

03/22/2026

March 22 is !

We are taking this day to celebrate Washington's rivers, lakes, bays and coasts and remember that it's up to all of us to protect them.

What waterways are you thinking about today?




📸 Carbon River tributary

03/18/2026

So great to participate in the 44th annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) at University of Oregon last week.

Great presentations, learning, collaborations and community! 🙌

We helped lead a panel comparing water law in OR, WA, and CA with Water Climate Trust and Water League.

We also signed up new activists and volunteers! 🌊

Photo: Boardmember Christian Murillo and Executive Director Chris Wilke

02/09/2026

Huge Championship Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks the NFL team with the COOLEST mascot (at least according to local bird nerds we know)! 🏈🏆

Although there is some speculation of other bird species possibly also representing the Seahawk name, we are going with Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) because they are an important species that arrives to our rivers and coastal beaches locally every spring, many times to the same nest. Who will see the first one this year?

They are definitely "champion migrators", with most local birds arriving from their winter grounds in Mexico and Central America (and some locations around the U.S. receiving birds from as far south as Venezuela or Argentina).

We also know they are champion fishers and one of the few raptors that can dive completely into the water, to pluck out a fish beneath the surface and take to the air again. We've even witnessed them plucking small bottom fish out of the surf zone. 🐟

We also love the logo which many acknowledge is a nod to PNW Indigenous art, culture and symbolism. 🙌

One thing both PNW Bird fans or football fans agree on: When I say "Sea".....You say: "HAWKS!"

📸 NASA Kennedy Space Center

02/03/2026

Happy World Wetlands Day!
💙🦆🐟🦐🎣🌳🐸🐢🪿🦋🐝🌿🌎💚

Did you know that half of the wetlands in the lower 48 US states are GONE? This according to archived content from 2024 still available on the US Fish and Wildlife website.

This causes immeasurable losses to water quality, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration and stream flows.

Let's celebrate and defend remaining wetlands!

WASHINGTON — A new report released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reveals wetlands – 95 percent of which are freshwater — covered less than 6 percent of the lower 48 states as of 2019 – which is half the area they covered since the 1780s. The report also identifies that loss rates hav...

01/03/2026

Time is running out! Take action today to defend our waters.

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/dont-let-epas-giveaway-to-polluters-stand-act-now-to-defend-the-clean-water/

Deadline: Monday, January 5, 2026 11:59 PM EST

Say NO to EPA’s Dirty Water proposal: The Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is putting thousands of protected waterways and wetlands at risk from toxic pollution, livestock waste, sewage, or in many cases– complete destruction through fill and alteration. For years t...

12/24/2025

Wishing everyone a healthy, peaceful and happy holidays! ❄️

Thanks for all your support in 2025! We couldn't protect clean flowing waters without you! 🫶

📸 Skagit River, Christian Murillo Photography

12/12/2025

Our hearts go out to everyone experiencing historic flooding in Washington right now. Please stay safe, and if you need to, please get to higher ground. 🛟 🙏

100,000 people in Western Washington have been advised to evacuate from their homes. The National Weather Service said rainfall was expected to peak Wednesday night, while some parts of Skagit County, a densely populated agricultural hub an hour north of Seattle, may not see the worst of the floodin...

12/02/2025

is here!! 💙

Please consider making a donation to Center for Environmental Law & Policy to protect clean flowing water. 🌊

Thanks to the generosity of a team of donors from our Board, all donations will be matched up to $7500! 🙏

See comments below for 2 excellent ways to help us reach our GivingTuesday and End-of-Year Goals: 👇

Thanks for helping protect Washington Waterways!






📸: Chris Wilke, Hoh River Sunrise

Clean, flowing waters. Healthy ecosystems.Empowered communities.Equitable water management.This is the Washington we envision.0Years Defending Washington Waters0Watersheds Where We Work0Members and Partners We work to ensure the equitable and sustainable management of our most precious resource: wat...

11/12/2025

Hearing Tomorrow! Act today to protect headwater streams in Washington State!

From our friends at Washington Conservation Action

Submit a comment supporting strong protections for Type Np streams.

10/06/2025

Despite the onset of fall weather, historic drought conditions persist in much of the state: Today water restrictions go into effect in the Yakima basin due to record low levels.

Dwindling water supplies force new restrictions in Yakima Basin beginning Oct. 6 - Washington Department of Ecology:

In the Yakima Basin, a third consecutive year of drought has caused historically low reservoir storage and streamflows. Ecology is issuing an unprecedented halt to surface water use beginning Oct. 6.