Yakima County used this funding to undertake a study of mining in the Yakima River floodplain. The Yakima River has one of the most heavily mined floodplains in the state. Proposals for additional floodplain gravel pits in an area with Endangered Fish Species required a better understanding of the impacts from floodplain gravel mining. Unresolved issues associated with floodplain gravel mining included impacts to hydrology, geomorphology, hyporheic zone function, water temperature, floodplain and river ecology and likeliness of successful reclamation. The Floodplain Mining Study included literature and historic floodplain mining research; temperature monitoring of river and floodplain mining pits; geomorphology and pit bathymetry; benthic macroinvertebrate biological assessments of fish assemblage studies upstream, downstream, and inside the floodplain gravel pits. Ten mining sites were selected for investigation along the Yakima River with concentration in those areas that were most heavily mined such as the Selah, Union Gap, and Ellensburg areas. The study was a cooperative effort between Yakima County Planning Department, Yakama Nation, WDNR, WDFW, and WDOE. The study was also supported by USBR and the EPA. The results of the study have been used to develop a decision framework to provide guidance toward evaluation of floodplain gravel mines. The study was designed to benefit Chinook, coho, steelhead and bull trout habitat enhancement plans.