Walla Walla River Watershed Populations

The Walla Walla River salmonid populations are comprised of Middle Columbia River summer steelhead, and Columbia River bull trout which are both protected under the Endangered Species Act (1973) as threatened species. Spring Chinook are also present in the Walla Walla River after being extirpated, and their numbers continue to increase as part of a tribal hatchery reintroduction program. Wild populations of summer steelhead are currently found in all of the main tributaries of the Walla Walla River including the Touchet River and its upper tributaries, Coppei Creek, Dry Creek, Mill Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and the Walla Walla and its tributaries in Oregon and WA. Bull trout populations spawn and rear in the upper Touchet River tributaries, upper Mill Creek and its tributaries, and the upper Walla Walla (primarily the South Fork and its tributaries). Bull trout can be found in the middle and lower reaches of the Walla Walla and Touchet Rivers in the winter and spring as they seasonally migrate through the systems.

Walla Walla River Summer Steelhead

The Walla Walla River Summer Steelhead population is comprised of wild fish found in the Walla Walla River, Dry Creek, Pine Creek, Mill Creek, Yellowhawk Creek, Cottonwood Creek, North Fork Walla Walla, South Fork Walla Walla and many small tributaries within the basin. Summer steelhead prime spawning and rearing habitat in the Walla Walla River begins at the mouth of Mill Creek and includes portions of upper Dry Creek, Pine Creek, Cottonwood Creek, Mill Creek, Yellowhawk Creek, the main stems of the North Fork Walla Walla and South Fork Walla Walla, and Couse Creek in Oregon. A few other small tributaries in the basin also provide spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead. The recovery goal for the Walla Walla River steelhead population is 1,000 returning natural/wild adults annually for 8 consecutive years; this includes the mainsten and its tributaries. Adult steelhead have been trapped and enumerated at the Nursery Bridge Dam in Milton Freewater, OR for many years by ODFW, and from 2000 to present by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The counts are a partial enumeration of fish moving up river in the Walla Walla River past this point to spawn because conditions occasionally prevent complete counts. The counts are also partial counts of the total population because they do not include fish numbers in Pine Creek, Dry Creek, Little Walla Walla River, Cottonwood Creek, or in the Walla Walla below the trap. Steelhead visual counts and redd counts have been conducted in Mill Creek above the City of Walla Walla indicating a small but increasing population is present. As fish passage is improved in the Mill Creek flood channel these numbers are expected to increase further. To this point adult traps or counting stations have not been operated other than at Nursery Bridge, parts of Mill Creek and Yellowhawk.