Kooskooskie Commons secures $7,200 Wildhorse Foundation grant for salmon stream protection

WALLA WALLA — Kooskooskie Commons has secured a $7,200 grant from the Wildhorse Foundation to expand water quality monitoring and community outreach focused on protecting local salmon spawning streams.

The funding will support data management and public workshops on water conservation throughout the Mill Creek Watershed. The grant advances two key local initiatives: the Watershed Action Alliance, which trains citizen volunteers to track water quality in the upper tributaries of Mill Creek and the North Fork of the Walla Walla River, and Every Drop Counts, an effort engaging residents who rely on the watershed for drinking water and irrigation.

Baseline data collected by volunteer monitors will help assess how logging and wildfires impact delicate stream ecosystems and native salmon recovery.

“We are grateful for this funding, which will allow both citizen-led science, and a public information campaign to promote water conservation, which is becoming ever more crucial for Walla Walla,” said R. Randal Son, board president of Kooskooskie Commons.

Over its 28-year history, Kooskooskie Commons has restored more than 12 miles of shoreline habitat along local waterways and conducted 15 years of stream monitoring, providing hands-on training to student interns from Whitman College and Walla Walla Community College.

The Wildhorse Foundation is managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, funding regional nonprofits and tribal programs using revenue generated by the Wildhorse Resort and Casino. The foundation has awarded more than $20 million in community grants since its inception in 2001.

Photo of Lily Lowery and Aaron McAdie placing a water temperature logger in China Creek (courtesy Kooskooskie Commons)

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Elkhorn Media Group