Dredging of Lower Granite pool will begin this month after U.S. court ruling

After nine years, dredging in the Lower Granite pool near Lewiston and Clarkston will begin as early as Jan. 12. The project was set to start after Judge James Robart of the U.S. District Court’s Western District of Washington ruled Monday in favor of the federal government and denied an injunction to halt dredging on the Snake River.

In a lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental groups and the Nez Perce Tribe, the court denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped needed maintenance of the federal navigation channel and related port berthing areas....