Some applications may be able to be approved before any other steps are taken. They are for water from deep basalt aquifers that are in areas that will not contribute to ground water level declines in the Walla Walla-College Place area and will not adversely affect people with senior water rights or flows in the Walla Walla or its tributaries. The report analyzed existing data on water supply, water quality, fisheries and water use. But there is a steady trend of high flows in winter and spring and low flows from June through October. Many streams are closed to new uses during the main irrigation season.
Several streams have problems with high temperatures and high levels of fecal coliform bacteria.
Also, nitrates and coliform bacteria have been found in the shallow gravel aquifer near Walla Walla. The watershed no longer supports chinook, chum, coho and sockeye salmon. Summer steelhead have declined as well. Irrigation accounts for 99 percent of the withdrawals from streams and rivers and 62 percent from ground water. The average annual flow in the Walla Walla River near Touchet is 564 cfs.