Through this project approximately 2.8 miles of open irrigation ditches were replaced with pipelines to prevent an estimated 2.75 to 3.25 cubic feet per second (cfs) of ditch losses. Three cfs (950 acre-feet) of flow is equivalent to about 2.5 percent of average summer flows in the Dungeness River and as much as 5.0 percent of late season low flows. This project also eliminated tailwater discharges and associated contamination to Meadowbrook Creek, a tributary to Dungeness Bay.Seven irrigation districts and companies withdraw water from the Dungeness River to irrigate the Dungeness Valley. This water was delivered to irrigators through a system of canals, ditches and pipelines. As much as 50 percent of the water conveyed in the open canals and ditches was lost through seepage and evapotranspiration. Peak irrigation water demands coincide with the naturally low, late summer flows, exacerbating already limited habitat conditions and high water temperatures for salmon. Salmonids utilizing the Dungeness River include ESA-Threatened Puget Sound Chinook, Hood Canal Summer Chum, Bull Trout and Puget Sound Steelhead Trout, as well as Dungeness Pink (depressed) and Puget Sound Coho (species of concern). In addition, many open ditches discharge polluted surplus irrigation tailwater to Dungeness Bay, which is closed to commercial shellfish harvesting due to fecal coliform contamination.