PUD No. 1 of Jefferson County v. Washington Department of Ecology

PUD No. 1 (plaintiff) sought a permit to build a hydroelectric plant on the Dosewallips River, and Washington's Department of Ecology (defendant) conditioned its Section 401 water quality certification on a minimum stream-flow requirement to protect resident salmon and trout populations, consistent with the state's EPA-approved antidegradation water quality standards; a state administrative board found the condition exceeded WDEC's authority, but a state superior court and the Washington Supreme Court upheld it as necessary to protect the fishery, prompting PUD's appeal.