Mel Wagner, chairman of the Yakima River Watershed Council, said the proposed listings will keep pressure on residents of the Yakima Valley to continue improving river water quality. It certainly confirms our need to to do what we have been attempting to do. The watershed council is working with irrigators, environmentalists and county governments to promote watershed improvements. The Yakima is one of the state's dirtiest rivers, and salmon counts there have dwindled perilously low. Alan Fulk, with the National Resource Conservation Service in Zillah, works with farmers to cut the sediment that runs from their farms to the river and ruins fish habitat.
Improvements are costly.
While the listing caused much consternation across the region, it's not likely to be clear for at least another year how the Mid-Columbia will be affected. On the Columbia, Zimmer said, the proposals will put more scrutiny on the roles of dams and barges. Lower Columbia chinook and chum are among the proposed listed fish. Stelle also predicted another evaluation of best management practices for fish at dams. But if we do this right, we are going to see a boost to the region.