As of fiscal year 2005,
the National Irrigation Water Quality Program
has been inactive.

For further information regarding the program,
please "Contact Us" via the link
at the top of this page.

NIWQP Project/Study Area—

Columbia River Basin, Washington

Location

The Columbia Basin Project is a multipurpose development of more than 4,000 square miles on the Columbia Plateau in central Washington and includes all the hydroelectric facilities as well as the agricultural land. Boundaries of the irrigation area and of the irrigation-drainage reconnaissance study area are Billy Clapp Lake on the north, the Columbia and Snake Rivers on the south, and the Columbia River on the west. A line formed by the cities of Odessa, Lind, and Kahlotus is an approximate boundary on the east. This study area encompasses Grant county, parts of Adams and Franklin counties, and, to a lesser extent, parts of Lincoln and Walla Walla counties. (Detail map)

Status

In general, the reconnaissance study did not find adverse effects on biota that could be attributed to trace-element concentrations in irrigation drainage. Unlike other study areas, the hazards to biota in this study area are reduced by the large volume of imported dilute Columbia River water. The NIWQP is no longer involved at this location.

Phases 2 and 3 Data

Chemical Data From Water:
ASCII - 27 KB .dat File or Microsoft Excel - 107 KB .xls File

Bottom Material:
ASCII - 8 KB .dat File or Microsoft Excel - 45 KB .xls File

Inorganic:
ASCII - 29 KB .dat File or Microsoft Excel - 115 KB .xls File

Organic:
ASCII - 43 KB .dat File or Microsoft Excel - 152 KB .xls File

Documents

Embree, S.S., and Block, E.K., 1995, Reconnaissance investigation of water quality, bottom sediment and biota associated with irrigation drainage in the Columbia Basin project, Washington, 1991-92: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 95-4007, 144 p.

Embrey, SS, and Block, E.K., 1994, Reconnaissance investigation of water quality, bottom sediment, and Biota associated with irrigation drainage in the Columbia Basin Project, Washington, 1992-92: (abs.) in Marston, R.A. and Hasfunher, V.R., eds., Effects of human-induced changes on hydrologic systems, Am. Water Resources Assoc., Proceedings, of the 1994 Summer Symposium, Jackson, Wyoming, June 26-29, 1994, p. 1065.