Notes from the Field: Gathering with Colleagues from Around the NW

Recently DRC staff had the chance to get together in Portland with other river restoration professionals connected with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Columbia Basin Water Transaction Program (CBWTP). Agencies and organizations funded through CBWTP are known as QLEs or Qualified Local Entities. These QLEs, including DRC, work on restoration projects around the greater Columbia Basin. Annual gatherings give colleagues across the Northwest the opportunity get to share progress stories and knowledge. "Attending the NFWF QLE conference is incredibly refreshing. Meeting with other organizations from across the Pacific Northwest that do exactly the type of work that we do, and face many of the same obstacles that we do, helps to develop a much greater sense of community,' says Jacob Kimiciek, Project Manager at DRC. "Not only that, but it reminds us of the importance of our work, and that although what we do is certainly challenging, it is also gratifying,"CBWTP is the largest voluntary instream flow restoration program in the United States. Established by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in 2002, the CBWTP aims to restore and protect stream flows in the Columbia River Basin as well as protect aquatic habitats for threatened fish species native to the Pacific Northwest. From 2002 to 2020, the CBWTP has completed over 640 water rights transactions, which have restored over 2.1 million acre-feet of water to key tributary streams in the Columbia Basin, including many here in the Deschutes Basin. Funding for this program is provided by Bonneville Power Administration in cooperation with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and with support from Altria.

The Columbia Basin