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Yakima Tributary Access and Habitat Program
Kittitas County landowners and irrigators have been especially concerned with fish habitat and other related issues since the listing of summer steelhead in the Middle Columbia in March of 2000. This listing attracted the attention of both landowners and regulatory agencies to the numerous unscreened irrigation diversions in Kittitas County.
The Kittitas County Conservation District (KCCD) and Kittitas County Water Purveyors (KCWP) have and continue to work together to provide assistance and guidance to local landowners. The KCWP hosted a fish screen workshop in Ellensburg in August 2000 that attracted approximately 100 landowners. At that time, the KCCD began accepting written requests from landowners needing technical and/or financial assistance.
To date, the KCCD has accepted requests for assistance on approximately 60 irrigation diversions. Nearly all of the diversions have been surveyed using small amounts of funding from various sources. That was only the first small step toward providing assistance.
In order to move to the next level (design and engineering, as well as implementation funds), the KCCD partnered with the KCWP, the North Yakima Conservation District, Ahtanum Irrigation District, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to apply to the Bonneville Power Administration(BPA) for funding for the Yakima Tributary Access & Habitat Program (YTAHP). BPA funding for YTAHP is available through September 2005. YTAHP is locally administered by the South Central Washington Resource Conservation & Development Council.
YTAHP has three general stages:
- Stage I - Assessments of man-made structures in our local streams. These structures will be evaluated for fish passability using recognized criteria. Structures we expect to evaluate include bridges, culverts and other road crossings; canal crossings (e.g. siphons) and irrigation water or stockwater diversion structures. Assessments of in-stream habitat may also occur.
- Stage II - Assembly of Tributary Team. After all of the assesments and inventories are complete on a particular tributary (e.g. Coleman Creek), a Tributary Team will be assembled. The Trib Team will consist of KCCD staff/board members and landowners. The Trib Team will use the assessment and inventory information, along with other factors, to prioritize potential projects on their tributary.
- Stage III - Implementation of Prioritized Projects. This stage is highly dependent on the availability of funding as many of the projects may be expensive. KCCD and KCWP staff are continuously searching for additional funding sources.
Current Data
