An infiltration basin. Creek water is diverted into the basin from the left and pumped through an underground pipe system into a deep basalt well to the right. The water is stored in the well until summer, when it is pumped back into the creek, thereby increasing summer flow and dropping creek temperatures.
An infiltration basin. Creek water is diverted into the basin from the left and pumped through an underground pipe system into a deep basalt well to the right. The water is stored in the well until summer, when it is pumped back into the creek, thereby increasing summer flow and dropping creek temperatures.
Google recently announced their philanthropic branch, Google.org, will be awarding an $100,000 grant to the Wy’East Resource Conservation and Development Area Council (Wy’East RCD) to support Wasco County Farmers and wildlife in the Fifteenmile Creek basin.
The grant will go toward the council’s work with the Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to increase water levels of Fifteenmile Creek, which originates in Mt. Hood National Forest above Dufur and joins the Columbia River just east of The Dalles.
This is part of a pilot project conceptualized in 2021 by the SWCD, Wy’East RCD, and the Fifteenmile Watershed Council, along with other agency partners and stakeholders. As discussed in June, the project will test an underground water storage system designed to increase water flow and decrease water temperature in the creek, benefiting fish and area farmers alike.
This would be a solution to the creek’s low water levels in summer months, which results in the water temperature rising. This rise in temperature can harm and kill aquatic species, including the Mid-Columbia River Steelhead, which is currently listed as threatened by the federal Endangered Species Act.
As of June, the Fifteenmile Watershed Council had already secured two grants from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and one from the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD).
The small-scale pilot project and testing site will be built approximately six miles upstream from Dufur.
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