This contract will work to improve stream flows, habitat complexity, riparian, and floodplain function, and water quality while reducing fish passage barriers in the Walla Walla Basin for the migration and rearing of summer steelhead, spring Chinook salmon, and bull trout. Limited stream flows and fish passage barriers are two primary limiting factors for the Walla Walla Basin aquatic species. Under this BPA contract, the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council (WWBWC) will work to address these issues in the North Fork Walla Walla River and Couse Creek with the North Fork Walla Walla River RM 5.2-6.5 Floodplain Restoration 100% Design, Floodplain Restoration North Fork Walla River RM 5.2-6.5 Implementation, North Fork Walla Walla River RM 6.5-7.7 Floodplain Restoration 30% Design,  Couse Creek RM 7.5-9 Floodplain and Habitat Restoration Implementation, and Couse Creek RM 7-7.5 Floodplain and Habitat Restoration Design and permitting projects. Additionally, the WWBWC will continue assessing the Walla Walla Basin tributaries with the Dry Creek and Lower Pine Creek assessment. The Assessment aims to develop strategies for increasing water quality and quantity, removing fish passage barriers, and providing rearing habitat for ESA-listed steelhead, spring Chinook, bull trout, and redband trout.

The WWBWC identified these projects through staff conversations with basin partners, working with property owners, referring to fish recovery plans, and consulting the preliminary Upper Walla Walla River Assessment conducted by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). In alignment with the Walla Walla Water 2050 Watershed Strategy, all identified projects address Tier 1 strategies, adhere to basin priorities, and strive to meet the desired future conditions of our watershed, ensuring long-term sustainability and health. Additionally, the WWBWC will work with several basin partners on these projects, including CTUIR, the Umatilla Soil and Water Conservation District, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife, and the City of Milton-Freewater.

WWBWC and the partners mentioned above will begin adding their most current, summarized empirical biological and physical habitat data sets to a GIS platform, such as ArcGIS Online, to determine priority areas and actions at the watershed level. Areas that contain focal fish species and life stages will be the highest priority. Specific habitat improvement actions will be prioritized based on their ability to meet the life stage-specific needs of the fish species, such as holding, spawning, summer rearing, winter rearing, and juvenile emigration.