DESCRIPTION
The Columbia Conservation District used this grant to provide cost-share funding to 7 landowners involved in the Voluntary Screen Compliance Program in the Tucannon River watershed. The project included assessment of current diversion screen conditions, design for compliant screens, and flow meter installation to meet compliance conditions. All cost-share requests received water right verification from Washington Department of Ecology and met screen design requirements of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Tucannon River Subbasin was identified as containing spawning and rearing reaches for ESA-listed spring and fall Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout (WRIA 35 Limiting Factors Analysis, Tucannon Model Watershed Plan, and NPPC Subbasin Planning efforts). Fall Chinook are believed to have migrated out of the system prior to irrigation season and are not impacted. This project was a critical component of the various planning efforts in southeast Washington and provided landowners cost-share funding incentives during depressed agricultural economic times.