Author: Kyle Hill, Project Associate
Cover photo: Drake Gilbert
Our community showed up for flowing freshwater during GiveBIG, collectively raising more than $21,000 to restore salmon streams. This funding is even helping WWT launch projects in Oregon! I’m thrilled to help lead a restoration effort there in an important Columbia River tributary, Fifteenmile Creek.
Fifteenmile Creek begins on the eastern flanks of Mount Hood and, despite its name, flows 54 miles to the Columbia River east of The Dalles. The creek and basin are important for agriculture and provide spawning and rearing habitat for coho and Chinook salmon, Pacific lamprey, and the easternmost population of winter-run Columbia River steelhead, which are listed on the Endangered Species Act.
Fifteenmile Creek near Dufur, Oregon. Photo: Drake Gilbert
Unfortunately, Fifteenmile Creek experiences some of the same challenges that streams face in Washington. High temperatures and low flows caused a mass fish die-off in Fifteenmile Creek in 2009. In its wake, local people banded together.
Irrigators signed up for a yearly instream leasing program to increase flow and reduce water temperature. The Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District started a voluntary program to reduce irrigation diversions when water temperatures became too warm for fish. These actions prevented more die-offs.
High flows (left) vs low flows (right) at the confluence of Fifteenmile Creek and Eightmile Creek. High flow photo: Drake Gilbert
The leasing program ended in 2019, however, leaving Fifteenmile Creek at risk again. Regional partners recognized the need to revive the program and develop a long-term restoration strategy, so they reached out to WWT and we hit the ground running.
Our team has secured two long-term water leases that will keep approximately 324 acre-feet (or more than 100 million gallons) of water instream annually starting this summer. The Fifteenmile Watershed Council is enthusiastic about our progress and our conversations with local landowners have been productive, yielding potential water leases that would protect an additional 1,200 acre-feet instream for the next 10 years.
A white-tailed deer wades in Fifteenmile Creek. Photo: Drake Gilbert
Once secured, these leases will protect approximately 90% of the water needed to meet the minimum flow target each year for fish in Fifteenmile Creek. And we can restore more water moving forward! Your support will help us continue our outreach this summer and grow leasing participation in 2027 and beyond.
WWT is honored and excited to restore cool, flowing water in Fifteenmile Creek for fish and wildlife. Thank you to our partners and supporters for making our streamflow success in Washington, and now Oregon, possible!
