Titus Creek Diversion Fish Passage and Screening

Walla Walla County Conservation District (WWCCD) protected Mid-Columbia River steelhead, Bull Trout, and spring Mid-Columbia River Spring-run Chinook Salmon ESU in Titus Cr by screening fish from the upstream section of the creek that is used for irrigation (many irrigation intakes are unscreened) and often goes dry in winter. WWCCD also restored fish passage and improved instream and riparian habitat in a 2 mile long Mill Cr side channel. Titus Cr is a distributary of Mill Cr originating from a Mill Cr side channel at RM13 in Walla Walla. The Mill Cr side channel provides excellent spawning/rearing habitat for steelhead within a major spawning area and high priority restoration reach identified in the 2011 Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan. Prior to this project, irrigation water was diverted into Upper Titus Cr by boulders and ecology blocks placed in the Mill Cr side channel. The diversion structure blocked fish up-migration through the side channel and effectively guided out-migrating juvenile fish from the side channel into Upper Titus Cr where they may have perished.
WWCCD removed the boulder and ecology block diversion dam in the Mill Cr side channel and replaced it with a three boulder weirs to maintain the required bed elevation to divert irrigation water while assuring fish passage through the side channel. They constructed a stop-log control structure in Titus creek to manage the flow of irrigation water into a self-cleaning rotary drum fish screen that was installed by WA State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. The new screen diverts all fish back into the Mill Cr Side Channel. They enlarged and repaired an earthen berm in lower Titus Creek to prevent fish from entering into the irrigation reach from downstream. Finally, WWCCD planted riparian vegetation and installed large wood in the Mill Cr side channel and along Titus Creek to improve fish habitat. Lower Titus Cr originates from a spring-fed pond, maintains year-round flow, and will remain accessible to fish.

WWCCD protected steelhead and Bull Trout in Titus Cr by screening fish from the upstream section of the creek that is used for irrigation and often goes dry in winter. We also restored fish passage and improved fish and riparian habitat in the Mill Cr side channel.