Columbia River Mainstem Fish Tissue and Water Quality Monitoring Program
In 2020, Yakama Nation was successful in securing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Columbia River Basin Restoration Program (CRBRP) funding to begin Phase 1 of a multi-phased, multi-year project to develop a Fish Tissue and Water Quality Monitoring Program (Monitoring Program) along the approximately 600-mile length of the Middle and Upper Columbia River mainstem to assess and track status and trends of contaminants in fish, water, sediments and invertebrates from the Canadian Border to Bonneville Dam.
Pacific Lamprey Project
The Yakama Nation is working to restore natural production of Pacific lamprey to a level that will provide robust species abundance, significant ecological contributions and meaningful harvest within the Yakama Nations Ceded Lands and in the Usual and Accustomed areas.
Yakima Basin Steelhead Kelt Reconditioning
Columbia River steelhead are iteroparous (able to spawn multiple times). However, as post-spawned steelhead (kelts) attempt to migrate downstream to return to the ocean, their survival is adversely affected by major dams. Therefore, an innovative approach to effectively increasing abundance and productivity of steelhead populations is to capitalize on their inherent iteroparity by reconditioning kelts.