These reports on the State of the Columbia River Estuary in 2025 will lay out some of the great strides that have been made over the past five years, alongside some of the grave issues that continue to face the health of the Columbia River.
Collectively, in the past five years we have made massive strides in addressing certain limitations, such as restoring and protecting more than 10,000 acres of valuable habitat for salmon and lamprey, including the largest restoration project ever on the lower Columbia River at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The Estuary Partnership and many local partners also continue to make great strides in engaging thousands of community members with learning about and caring for their rivers and streams through educational programming, on-water paddling, and hands-on stewardship. These programs were particularly pronounced in latter years, as COVID pandemic restrictions were lifted.
And yet serious challenges persist. Warming waters harm salmon in the summer months. Recurring extreme weather events threaten critical habitat as well as human infrastructure. A lack of funding for toxics monitoring on the Columbia River persists, despite the emergence of new pollutants of concern like PFAS and microplastics, and threatening multiple species and ecosystems, as well as human health. Funding limitations are also poised to reduce opportunities for student outdoor learning in coming years.
Indicators will be explored through narratives, maps, graphs, statistical analyses, photos, and more. Together, they paint a complex picture of the state of the lower Columbia River in 2025. Each indicator will be released as its own stand-alone chapter, with a new chapter released every few weeks in the following order: