Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program

In Idaho... The State’s Largest, Most Complex Transaction Yields Big Results

“There was a rightness to the deal. I had a responsibility to make these water systems more functional, efficient, and economical.”
– Glenn Elzinga, Rancher, Alderspring Ranch

Historically, central Idaho’s Pahsimeroi River, a tributary of the Salmon River, coiled through an abundant basin for spawning, migrating, and rearing summer chinook salmon, steelhead, and westslope cutthroat. But for more than a century, parts of the Pahsimeroi and its tributaries have run dry in late summer and early fall because of water diversions for irrigated agriculture.

In 2008, the CBWTP, in partnership with the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR), completed its largest and most complex project in Idaho, and the first water transactions in the Pahsimeroi Basin. The 20-year agreements reopened 10 miles of high-quality, spring-fed creek habitat previously impassable to fish, and biologists from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game report that adult salmon are already returning.

IDWR staff worked with the Department of Fish and Game and the Custer County Soil and Water Conservation District to remove the P-9 irrigation ditch and an associated cross ditch. These diversions drained a creek with prime chinook habitat and intercepted two springs that would otherwise feed cold water to the Pahsimeroi; one ditch acted as an upstream fish migration barrier during low-water periods.

With support from the CBWTP, the IDWR negotiated agreements with four landowners to change their point of diversion to the mainstem Pahsimeroi, where flow is not limited. As part of the project, the landowners are also switching from flood irrigation to more efficient sprinkler systems. The project restores nearly 30 cubic feet per second (cfs)—or more than 13,000 gallons per minute—of clean, cold water.

“We developed a great relationship with the landowners,” says Morgan Case, staff biologist with the IDWR. “We worked to ensure that the changes they made in their irrigation management would make financial sense while delivering results for fish.”

One of those landowners, Glenn Elzinga, runs Alderspring Ranch, where he raises organic, grass-fed beef. As part of the transaction, he installed a new pumping station with fish screens. “There was a rightness to the deal,” he says. “I had a responsibility to make these water systems more functional, efficient, and economical, and that’s not to mention the fish. Even my two-year-old could tell the new system was fish-friendly and wouldn’t trap them like the old one did.”

In Oregon... A Milestone Partnership Produces Permanent Water Transactions

“These types of transactions are unheard of in the arid West. It’s a huge milestone in streamflow restoration.”
– Tod Heisler, Executive Director, Deschutes River Conservancy

For more than 100 years, ranchers, farmers, and fish have been vying for water in the arid Deschutes Basin of central Oregon. For much of that time, agricultural demands have outstripped supply. In the Middle Deschutes River, between Bend and Lake Billy Chinook, the river’s natural summer flow of nearly 1,300 cfs was reduced to just 30 cfs beginning in the 1960s. Even today’s levels, which can reach as high as 120 cfs thanks to the efforts of the Deschutes River Conservancy (DRC) and its partners, severely limit fish habitat.

As the Deschutes Basin becomes more urbanized, the need for irrigation water is on the decrease, creating opportunities to boost flows for fish. The DRC, with support from the CBWTP, has formed a unique alliance with the Central Oregon Irrigation District (COID) to do just that—to put some of that water back in the Middle Deschutes on a permanent basis.

“Even though land-use change has been happening in the region for 20 to 25 years, until the DRC came along and joined forces with the CBWTP, there had never been a permanent transfer instream on the Middle Deschutes,” says Tod Heisler, executive director of the DRC. “These types of transactions are unheard of in the arid West. It’s a huge milestone in streamflow restoration.”

After water-rights holders sell excess rights to the COID, the district transfers a portion of those—enough water to irrigate 40 acres annually, or approximately 216 acre-feet—to the DRC for the sole purpose of river conservation; 2008 marks the second year of this historic collaboration.

While these acre-feet represent just a small portion of the 5,010 total acre-feet restored through permanent transactions to the entire Deschutes in 2008, they signify a major step. The transfer of water rights from an irrigation district for permanent restoration efforts is a first for the CBWTP—and for the district. “It’s a change in status quo,” says Steve Johnson, director of the COID in Redmond. “Traditionally, our primary mission has been to provide water for irrigation. But we recognize and support the objective to increase flow in the river to improve water quality and fish habitat.”

With more permanent deals on the way from the COID, the DRC is steadily working toward the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recommended streamflow of 250 cfs in the Middle Deschutes.

In Oregon... Building Blocks for Long-Term Solutions and More Precise Monitoring

“We’re real pleased with the way it’s worked out for us.”
– Les Carlsen, Rancher

When enough cold water flows in the 30-mile-long Lostine River, a tributary of the Wallowa River, chinook salmon have access to their spawning grounds in Oregon’s craggy Eagle Cap Wilderness, 600 miles from the ocean. But during the hot, dry days of August and September, water diversions can reduce 2 key miles of the Lostine to a trickle, especially in drought years, making passage impossible. The problem, which has occurred for the better part of the last century, closes off 11 miles of high-quality salmon habitat.

Much of the Lostine’s water is used to irrigate 4,000 acres of hay and alfalfa. But, starting in 2005, the Freshwater Trust, or TFT (formerly Oregon Water Trust, or OWT), with support from the CBWTP, crafted agreements with more than 100 ranchers to lease portions of their water rights for restoring flows of 15 cfs to the river, or about 6,732 gallons per minute.

Because the OWT brokers each deal annually, reaching 15 cfs every year requires a significant amount of work. But in 2008, with funding from the CBWTP, the trust bought 0.73 cfs of water rights from ranchers Les and Nancy Carlsen—the first permanent water acquisition on the Lostine.

“This water right constitutes just a small portion of what’s needed, but it’s an important building block,” says David Pilz, project manager at TFT. “We see it as part of a larger, permanent restoration” that includes irrigation efficiency upgrades and improved water management. David hopes the Carlsens will inspire other landowners who lease rights annually to consider participating on a permanent basis.

The Carlsens have raised cattle and hay on 135 acres for the past 30 years, and they were ready to cut back their workload. But they didn’t want to quit ranching. By selling permanent water rights to TFT, they were able to reduce their herd, convert some of their irrigated acreage into dryland alfalfa pasture, and maintain the same income.

“You have to change management to compensate, improving your grasses into dryland and watching your fertilizer application,” Les Carlsen says. “We’re real pleased with the way it’s worked out for us.”

It’s worked out for the fish, too. Last year, 2,018 spring chinook salmon from the threatened Lostine stock returned to the river, the highest number since the Nez Perce tribe started monitoring in 1997 and a remarkable boost from 1999, when just 13 chinook made their way back.

Support from the CBWTP also allowed TFT to partner with the Nez Perce tribe in 2008 on an innovative use of radio telemetry. Tribal biologists are following the progress of radio-tagged chinook as the fish make their way through carefully measured volumes of water in the Lostine. By correlating specific flows to fish passage at precise locations and times, scientists aim to make more precise assessments of flows the chinook require. The CBWTP hopes this groundbreaking project will have implications for expanding the tool kit of resource professionals around the Columbia Basin.

In Washington... Enhancing Flows Key to Multipartner Watershed Restoration

“The project showcases how land and water trusts can work together to accomplish mutual goals.”
– Kelly McCaffery, Project Manager, Washington Water Trust

In the shrub–steppe foothills of the Cascade Mountains, six miles northwest of the town of Yakima, Cowiche Creek has carved out a canyon of towering basalt cliffs. The creek and its lush riparian banks once offered prime habitat to chinook, coho, and steelhead, but for more than a century it has been oversubscribed for irrigation; during the late season, the creek often runs dry.

With support from the CBWTP, the Washington Water Trust (WWT) teamed with a local land trust—and other partners—not only to create more instream flow for fish, but to replenish biodiversity and address multiple limiting factors in a riparian zone that’s home to more than 185 species of trees, shrubs, and flowers, and 125 species of birds and other wildlife.

“The project showcases how land and water trusts can work together to accomplish mutual goals,” says Kelly McCaffery, project manager at the WWT. “For a watershed like Cowiche, a biological puzzle with many pieces, combining efforts makes all the difference in producing substantive results.”

Three years ago, the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land purchased the 1,800-acre Snow Mountain Ranch. The property hugs top-notch salmon habitat on the South Fork of Cowiche Creek and comes with 0.82 cfs of water rights, a first step toward the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s goal of 7 cfs. With the CBWTP’s assistance, the WWT worked with the conservancy in 2008 to transfer the water into permanent trust for restoration.

Benefits from the water transfer boost the efforts of a host of other partners, who have removed fish barriers and replanted nearly a mile of riparian and floodplain areas. These partners are using a portion of the conserved water to help get trees and shrubs through their first two years.

“This water transaction not only helps us complete the land acquisition, but ensures that the riparian restoration is off to a healthy start,” says Richard Visser, watershed steward for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “Now, fish making it past former physical barriers will arrive at quality habitat.”

By 2010, when the plantings are established, the acquired water rights will permanently increase flows in 10 miles of the South Fork and in the mainstem of Cowiche Creek.