The project goal is to install screens on irrigation pump intakes in areas that are most likely to harm threatened Steelhead & Bull Trout in the Walla Walla Watershed. The Cooperative Compliance Review Program (CCRP), created by WDFW, creates a partnership between WDFW, private landowner, and Conservation Districts to screen all the intakes in the watershed. Through CCRP process, Walla Walla and Columbia Cty. landowners have signed up to screen 438 pump intakes/diversions that do not meet current criteria. Area biologists prioritized these projects based on location in the watershed relative to fish life stages. While the CCRP process sets up a framework for installation of screens, it does not contain funding for installation. This proposal seeks funding to install all the priority 1 screens (156 projects in spawning reaches) to NMFS and WDFW criteria. WWCCD will utilize their low overhead to administer the grant, WDFW will train private contractors how to design & install the screens. WDFW will also approve designs & installation of the screens, providing the landowner with certification of compliance & a HPA which outlines long term operation and maintenance requirements. Screening is a key component of the bi-state watershed planning process which seeks to restore Steelhead and Bull Trout stocks by working across political boundaries . Partners include NMFS, USFWS, USFS, Umatilla Tribe, sportsmans groups, ODFW, OR DEQ, OR Water Resources Dept., & environmental groups.
