Middle Snake Watershed Planning (WRIA 35)

Lead agency contact:

Tim Simpson, General Manager
Asotin County PUD
(509) 758-1010
tsimpson@asotinpud.org

Ecology contact:

Mimi Wainwright
Department of Ecology
(509) 329-3419
mwai461@ecy.wa.gov

Implementation phase:

Planning phase: Phase 2

Optional elements: Water Quality, Instream Flow, and Habitat

Plan due: Fall 2007

Grants awarded: About $532,000 through June 2007

Plan website: Middle Snake Watershed (WRIA 35)

Progress

The Middle Snake water resource inventory area initiating governments applied to enter into watershed planning in April 2002. In August, 2002, a Phase I grant was signed and watershed planning in WRIA 35 began in earnest. The initiating governments are Asotin, Garfield, Columbia and Whitman Counties, the City of Clarkston, and the Asotin Public Utilities District as the major water purveyor. In addition to Clarkston, the Cities of Asotin, Pomeroy and Starbuck are participating. Conservation districts from each of the four counties are participating as well as the Washington Wheat Growers Association and the extension service of Washington State University. Both the USFS and NRCS participate but are not voting members of the planning unit. There are 12 members at-large and representatives from the Blue Mountain Land Trust, the Tri-State Steelheaders, and Asotin County Sportsman who all are voting members. In January, the lead agency for planning process, the Asotin PUD, formally requested the state’s participation on the planning unit. The state caucus is represented by Ecology. WDFW participates in most meetings.

The activities for Phase I of watershed planning were essentially complete by March of 2003; the planning unit members were identified and the planning unit had developed operating procedures, hired a consultant to assist them with the work, and recommended that the plan address all four elements of watershed planning: water quantity, water quality, habitat and instream flows.

Completion of Phase I had not expended all the funds available in the initial grant allocation and the planning unit requested and received permission to use remaining funds for public outreach activities, specifically public workshops. Workshops were held in five locations in May. These public workshops were intended to introduce and explain watershed planning to the larger community. In addition to hosting these meetings, the planning unit has established a web-site to assist with both internal communications and public information: http://www.asotinpud.org/msww/.

In April of 2003, the lead agency applied for the second and third tier of funding for watershed planning, Phase II and Phase III. The grant contract was prepared and signed for Phase II work in September 2003. The first meeting of the planning unit occurred on October 20, 2003.

A Phase II Level I Technical Assessment was completed January 2005. Further assessment work continues on a Water Quality Assessment, which will include temperature modeling on the Tucannon River, as well as a Multi-purpose Storage Assessment. Phase III work began summer of 2005 concurrently with Phase II Level II assessment work. To facilitate Phase III work, the basin was divided up into 3 sub basins and public workshops were held in the Asotin and Pataha Creek Sub basins and the Tucannon River Sub-basin September 2005. The watershed plan is scheduled to be completed September 2007.

In support of watershed planning and because the Middle Snake is one of the State’s designated 16 critical basins, the department of Ecology has installed 11 gauges in tributaries to the Snake River. There are seven continuous, telemetry gauges. View data from these gauges and links for all eleven gauges.

Two other planning processes are taking place in the region which will be important to watershed plan implementation. These are the Washington State Governor's regional salmon recovery planning process and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's subbasin planning.

This plan is due in September 2007, four years after Phase II funding was provided.

Studies or data relevant to planning for this area

Middle snake (35)

Washington State Department of Ecology home page

Please send additions or corrections to Chris Anderson, (360) 407-6634.