Eastern Washington water projects
We are implementing integrated water solutions to meet current needs and future demands. We're seeking resiliency in the face of drought and climate change, which threaten water availability for communities throughout the region. Our projects secure water for municipal, domestic, and agricultural purposes.
Our water supply and environmental enhancement projects are helping to ease water conflicts in Eastern Washington. We're responding to decades of competition for water that stymied new development and threatened several fish species listed as endangered in the Columbia River Basin.
We're promoting water exchanges and efficiencies, exploring storage, and protecting and improving water supplies and water quality. We're releasing water, constructing passage and implementing habitat improvements where fish need it most.
Columbia Basin Water Project priorities
In 2006, bipartisan legislation was passed establishing the Columbia River Water Management Program to aggressively pursue water supplies that meet all water needs in Eastern Washington.
Our projects tap into stored water from existing reservoirs, improve and build needed infrastructure, and restore habitat and develop enhanced water conservation projects to make water available for:
- Farmers in the Odessa subarea, vineyards on Red Mountain, and throughout Eastern Washington.
- Fish migration and habitat in the Methow and Yakima river basins and other tributaries.
- Communities up and down the Columbia River system, including Bridgeport, Pasco, Pateros, Twisp, White Salmon, and Yakima.
Learn more about our Columbia River projects.
The first sockeye salmon hatched naturally in the Yakima Basin in over a century return to spawn in the Cle Elum River.
Increasing water supply in our watersheds
Projects developed under the Office of Columbia River's integrated water management efforts work to enhance water supply for agriculture, fish, and communities in three Washington watersheds:
- The Icicle Creek Strategy addresses needs in the Icicle Creek Basin stretching from the creek's confluence with the Wenatchee River through Leavenworth and into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.
- The Walla Walla Water 2050 plan is a joint effort between the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the states of Washington and Oregon, and others. It attends to conservation, streamflows, and improving efficiency in the Walla Walla River Basin from the Columbia River to the Walla Walla River's headwaters in Oregon.
- The Yakima Basin Integrated Water Management Plan works toward increasing water supplies for families, farms, and fish from Snoqualmie pass to the Tri-Cities.
Related links
Contact information
Tim Poppleton
Office of Columbia River web coordinator
tim.poppleton@ecy.wa.gov
509-454-4241