Yakima County will use this RCO Salmon Recovery Funding Board Grant to pursue a conservation/riparian easement near the mouth of Cowiche Creek at the confluence with the Naches River. This property has been identified in previous studies as critical for plans to return Cowiche Creek to a less confined floodplain with prime habitat for ESA listed steelhead and spring Chinook as well as bull trout and Coho habitat. Yakima County and the City of Yakima are currently working to relocate the Fruitvale Irrigation Diversion upstream to the Nelson Dam location. This action will reduce the need for the current levee system which was created to redirect Cowiche Creek onto an unnatural floodplain in order to minimize risk to landowners and the diversion structure. The landowner prefers to keep the land in agriculture and is willing to negotiate a Conservation/riparian easement for the future restoration location of lower Cowiche Creek. This land is under heavy pressure for development and annexation into the City of Yakima. This acquisition project is one of the few remaining privately owned parcels in the Lower Naches River riparian zone. The final phase project removes levees and improves side channel habitat in an area previously inaccessible to fish. The riparian easement and restoration will ensure that fluvial geomorphic and biologic processes are encouraged to maintain and restore ecological and floodplain connectivity in this reach. Project requires phases for completion; this request is Phase 1.