In a collaborative effort, representatives from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), the city of Walla Walla and conservationists from Oregon and Washington presented their work and research surrounding the Walla Walla Basin Watershed on Oct. 21 in Reid Ballroom. 

Attendees included local community members whose careers or livelihoods are impacted by the Walla Walla Basin, a handful of students and representatives from Walla Walla, local fisheries and conservation scientists. Many who attended the meeting feel that the Walla Walla Basin has been over-allocated for years, meaning there is more water coming out than coming in.

Spanning 1,758 square miles and containing three sub-basins (the Walla Walla and Touchet rivers and Mill Creek), the Walla Walla Basin is tasked with fulfilling a variety of water needs in the region. As it stands, the basin is unable to meet the demands of the community — from farmers to local residents, businesses and institutions like Whitman.

Professor Stan Thayne, who teaches Anthropology, Indigenous Studies, Religion, Politics and Environmental Studies, explained that the basin has historically been split between several groups who rely on its water. 

“But my understanding is that the water’s been over-allocated for a century or more and irrigators […] during the ’70s and ’80s and throughout parts of the 20th century [are] basically running the Walla Walla River dry,” Thayne said. 

Concerns about the basin’s health and overuse are shared by communities across the Washington-Oregon border who have historically sourced water from the basin. Associate Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Studies Eunice Blavascunas shed light on the history of water rights in Walla Walla.

“The Homestead Act of 1862 was challenged in the 1970s by the tribes, [because they] were here first. And there’s not enough water in the stream for the salmon,” Blavascunas said. “If you don’t use your water right, you lose it.”

Many groups have formed in order to combat these problematic policy gaps. One of the most influential groups is the Walla Walla Basin Advisory Committee (WWBAC), which works to provide policy advice among the two states of Oregon and Washington. Membership consists of knowledgeable community leaders, agricultural and environmental representatives and local government officials.

Walla Walla Basin Advisory Committee member and conservation scientist Annie Byerley explained that although current irrigation systems are not the most efficient way to allocate water, changes to the system are a costly endeavor, which could place further financial stress on local farmers. 

“While there are methods to increase efficiency, it doesn’t come without a large cost. Many of these upgrades cost roughly $3,000 an acre. There is no return on these upgrades to the producer,” Byerley said. “Farmers are facing the highest costs for fertilizer, herbicides, labor and equipment they have ever seen, while the profits they are making off their crops match the income made in the 1970s. Some of these farmers are struggling to break even on their inputs.”  

In 2019, the Walla Walla Water 2050 plan was born in hopes of addressing the manifold issues that contribute to the basin’s poor health. It focuses on water quality, stream flows and groundwater, water supply and efficiency, floodplains and habitat, monitoring and metering and policy and regulatory.

The plan, released in June 2021, was initiated by the Washington Legislature, which tasked Walla Walla Management Partnership and the Department of Ecology with creating a 30-year water management plan. It was organized between the states of Washington and Oregon, the CTUIR and the Walla Walla Watershed Management Partnership. Walla Walla Water 2050 aims to create sustainable solutions so that the community, its businesses and residents, as well as the members of the CTUIR and the wildlife that depends on the basin, can have all of their needs met. 

The WWBAC works closely with the 2050 plan and was formed as a product of the plan. The committee provides project and policy advice for the 2050 plan and is led by the Oregon and Washington State governments, alongside the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The committee is essentially an amalgamation of specialists who bring diverse backgrounds in knowledge and experience to create a holistic evaluation of the needs of the basin and the people it provides water to. 

During the open house, the BAC identified state policy as a major hurdle, as the basin spans two states. Because of this, permission needs to be obtained across state boundaries to implement certain improvements and craft solutions.

Professor Thayne said, “The Walla Walla Watershed is split by this arbitrary state line, which is really challenging, which I think speaks to the problem of creating states with […] these straight lines of demarcation. […] It doesn’t make ecological sense.”

Moving forward, the collaboration of state and city officials and community members from both sides of the state line, as well as representatives of the CTUIR, is vital to the plan’s success.