Author: James Kraft, Executive Director
Icicle Creek is stunning. Flowing through the Cascade Mountains near Leavenworth, its cool water casts a spell that can make any time outside memorable. Icicle Creek is also vital: it provides irrigation water, fish habitat, drinking water, and recreation opportunities. Unfortunately, climate change and increasing demand are taking a toll on its flows.
We have worked with local partners for over a decade to help Icicle Creek. Our efforts culminated in WWT signing agreements last year with the Cascade Orchard Irrigation Company (COIC) and Chelan County to build a new pump station—replacing an old open ditch irrigation diversion—that will allow more than 1.3 billion gallons of water annually to remain in the creek. Now, I’m thrilled to report that the pump station is complete!
WWT Program Director Greg McLaughlin and Project Manager Tessa Reeder celebrate the COIC pump station’s construction.
Greg, Tessa, and I recently celebrated this achievement with COIC shareholders, Chelan County officials, construction team members, project funders, and others on the banks of Icicle Creek. We toured the new pump station and admired its machinery, which provides water much more efficiently to the hundreds of acres that COIC serves.
A look inside the new COIC high-efficiency irrigation pump station. It is 2.5 miles downstream of the old irrigation diversion.
The open-ditch irrigation diversion on the creek that COIC shared with the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery is gone. The hatchery and US Bureau of Reclamation removed the old diversion’s cross-stream barrier that had slowed the creek for nearly 90 years. Icicle Creek now flows free here for steelhead, spring Chinook, bull trout, and other wildlife.
The old dam and fish ladder at the river diversion (left) vs. the same stretch of stream with the dam removed and the diversion upgraded (right).
Standing by the creek, I was reminded of how so many people worked hard to keep it flowing. Farmers, irrigators, Tribes, NGOs, and government agencies put fish first to restore valuable water to Icicle Creek forever.
WWT helped bring these diverse partners together, guide this project, and secure funding. Our collaborative approach to protecting and restoring water in rivers and streams works! Thank you to all of our donors and partners for supporting the Icicle Creek project and making unforgettable days on its flowing water possible.
