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Ecology's work near you > River basins & groundwater > Walla Walla 2050

Walla Walla Water 2050 water management plan

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Walla Walla Basin Watershed Strategy open house

Join us from 4:30-7:30 p.m., Oct. 27, 2026 at the Walla Walla Community College Water & Environmental Center for an open house and panel discussion with local watershed experts.

The Walla Walla River basin does not always have enough water available to meet the needs of our local communities, Tribes, farms, and aquatic ecosystems. The Walla Walla Basin Watershed Strategy, also known as Walla Walla Water 2050, is a collaborative effort to meet the Basin’s growing water needs and provide water for healthy rivers, fish, farms, and people.

Visit the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Strategy website for event details.

Person standing in a creek measuring streamflows

Measuring streamflows in Mill Creek, a tributary of the Walla Walla River

The Walla Walla Water 2050 initiative has been authorized by the Washington Legislature as an effort to improve streamflows and water supplies in the Walla Walla River Basin over the next 30 years. The initiative answers the decades-long challenge of meeting the basin's growing water needs for today, tomorrow, and beyond. This project is especially critical as water supplies throughout the state are under pressure from declining aquifers and warming snowpack.

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The Walla Walla River flows from its headwaters in the mountains of Oregon, through Washington where it converges with the Columbia River near Wallula. Water availability for people, farms, and fish is a problem in the basin, particularly in the summer when demand is the highest.

In 2019, the Washington Legislature tasked the Walla Walla Management Partnership and Ecology to collaboratively develop a 30-year strategic plan for water management in the Walla Walla Basin. Together with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the State of Oregon and stakeholders on both sides of the state border, the partners began this process, dubbed Walla Walla Water 2050, later that year. They released a draft strategic plan for public comment in May 2021. The final Walla Walla Water 2050 Strategic Plan was released in June 2021 and is being implemented by the partners with the assistance of the Walla Walla Basin Advisory Committee. Ecology submitted a report to the legislature regarding the plan in 2025.

  

 

Walla Walla Water 2050 Story Map

Stakeholders shared their vision for success when we launched the Walla Walla 2050 strategic planning session on October 3-4, 2019. 

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