"While WWP keeps their focus on water, they understand what it takes to succeed in ranching. They’re trying to find what’s best for everybody. WWP earned my respect."
- Charlie Lehman / Rancher / Methow Valley
Working in partnership with many stakeholders, the Washington Water Project brings funding sources and technical expertise to the challenge of improving flows of clean, cold water to some of Washington’s most important fish and wildlife habitats.
WWP develops water solutions that are individually tailored and beneficial for both the water right holder and fish habitat. To do this, WWP pursues a wide variety of projects, including:
Here are some examples of our work:
Manastash Creek - before
WWP organized a reverse water rights auction, which was met with great success – in fact, it was the first successful reverse water rights auction in Washington State. The goal of the auction was to put an additional three cubic feet per second of water instream by allowing willing water right holders to auction a partial or whole water right. All water right holders in Manastash Creek with surface water rights were invited to submit bids for the auction. The acquired water rights are being placed in the Department of Ecology’s Trust Water Rights Program, where they will be protected as instream flow in Manastash Creek. This success highlights the value of using innovative and market-based incentives for instream flow improvement.
Manastash Creek - after