We are partnering with the Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to install more efficient irrigation systems in The Dalles, Oregon. 17.5 acres of lawn, landscaping, and cemetery will be equipped with five smart controllers that use local weather to adjust irrigation. This will help conserve water in a region experiencing historic drought and failing reservoirs.
Major Basin: Columbia and Northwestern United States
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Saint Mary’s Irrigation System Upgrade
This project aims to improve agricultural efficiency, conserve water, and protect local water resources in Oregon’s Mill Creek watershed. By upgrading irrigation systems, it will help reduce water use while supporting the environment. As part of the project, Saint Mary’s Academy’s 17.5-acre irrigated area will receive five smart controllers that adjust water use based on real-time weather data. Additionally, an existing water diversion will be replaced with a modern pumping system and underground sprinklers, which will work with the smart controllers to optimize irrigation. To further support the local ecosystem, the project will also install advanced fish screens approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to safeguard steelhead and other native fish.
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Lytle Creek Nitrate Removal
Led by the Deschutes River Conservancy, this project supports the coordination of a water quality monitoring partnership as well the implementation of a water quality improvement project on Lytle Creek in Central Oregon. Coordination activities will include finalizing the Crooked River Water Quality Partnership Strategic Action Plan, establishing a governance framework for the Partnership, and producing reports documenting progress towards the Partnership’s goals.
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Rebuilding Freshwater Habitat Mayook Marsh
The 60-acre Mayook Marsh is located on British Columbia provincial Crown land in the Kootenay River floodplain in southeastern BC, 13 miles east of the City of Cranbrook. With the loss of more than 85% of historic wetlands in the southern, heavily populated parts of the province, upgrading water control structures that maintain water levels in DUC’s engineered wetland projects, such as Mayook Marsh, is critical. Mayook Marsh provides habitat for waterfowl, endangered western painted turtles, and a diverse suite of other wildlife species. Located within provincial range land, Mayook Marsh also provides stock watering for five ranchers who share rotating Crown grazing tenures. In addition, the marsh falls within the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation.
A water control structure installed in 1976 by Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) maintains water levels in this 60-acre marsh, this project will upgrade the water control structure to maintain water levels and provide an increase in freshwater storage capacity. The project includes replacing the control structure, upgrading the dam, and improving the access road. DUC has reached out to the Ktunaxa to explore opportunities to collaborate on continued stewardship of the land’s natural values. -
Icicle Creek Irrigation Efficiency Project
The Washington Water Trust is a key partner in this project which enhances instream flows and supports ecosystem restoration in Icicle Creek, a critical habitat for ESA-listed steelhead in Washington state. By permanently removing an upstream irrigation diversion, replacing it with a downstream diversion, and implementing efficiency upgrades, the project will significantly increase water flow to the creek. This initiative is part of the larger “Icicle Strategy,” aiming to meet flow targets, enhance habitat, and improve the reliability of agricultural and domestic water supplies. It also facilitates future projects, such as the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery upgrades, critical for sustaining tribal fisheries and restoring the watershed.
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Columbia Valley Wetlands Project II
The Upper Columbia River and adjacent Columbia Wetlands are one of the largest wetland complexes in British Columbia and one of the largest floodplain systems in North America. The wetlands encompass 26,000 hectares and are one of the few remaining intact portions of the Pacific Flyway for migrating birds. The natural levees make the Columbia Wetlands incredibly unique, separating several hundred sub-basins with differing amounts of marsh, open water, riparian shrubs and floodplain forest. It is a large landscape with overlapping values of high biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
In partnership with Living Lakes Canada, a member of the Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners (CWSP). The project seeks to increase open water habitat in Columbia Valley wetlands through the installation of a series of beaver dam analogs (BDAs), to conduct water quality and ecosystem biodiversity monitoring, with hopes to conserve the exceptional ecological and cultural values of the Columbia Wetlands system.
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Crab Creek and Odessa Aquifer Agricultural Efficiency Program
To tackle falling water levels in the Odessa Aquifer, state, federal, and local partners have launched the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program (OGWRP). The plan aims to shift up to 87,000 acres of farmland from groundwater to more sustainable surface water from the Columbia River. With $48.5 million already secured, this effort will conserve about 55,000 acre-feet of groundwater annually, benefiting 25 mid-Columbia communities that rely on this vital resource. In addition, CBCD is helping farmers improve irrigation in the Odessa and Quincy areas by promoting efficient technologies like mobile drip irrigation (MDI). This system delivers water directly to plants, reducing waste from evaporation. Over the next five years, CBCD plans to upgrade up to 42 irrigation systems with MDI, partnering with local vendors to make it happen.
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Alta Harris Side Channel Connection
Barber Dam is located on the Boise River, and acts as a barrier to migrating fish. In 2005, construction of a side channel was initiated to provide fish passage around Barber Dam and provide off-channel habitat. The side channel was connected to the Boise River downstream of Barber Dam but work to connect the side channel to the Boise River upstream of the dam was not completed. The channel’s potential connection to the Boise River is currently obstructed by the Barber Dam. Flow in the partially completed side channel is minimal and is due to springs and irrigation system overflow.
In partnership with Trout Unlimited, this project will complete the side channel connection with the main stem of the Boise River, to bypass Barber Dam. It improve habitat for native salmonids, and improve water quality and riparian conditions within the Boise River corridor.