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From the Director

come to the first newsletter of the Washington Water Research Center (WWRC) located at Washington State University, Pullman. Washington e-Water News is intended as a forum for water stakeholders in the State of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. A brief flyer, such as this one, will be mailed to inform readers of the content of each newsletter, whose full content will be available on the World Wide Web at www.swwrc.wsu.edu.
     This newsletter, one of three to be published annually, is funded in part by the Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Interior, as authorized by the Water Resources Act of 1984. If you want to be added or add someone else to our database, please call 509-335-5531 or send an e-mail to watercenter@wsu.edu including name and postal and e-mail addresses.
     Authors are solely responsible for the content of contributions published in Washington e-Water News; WWRC only provides the vehicle to disseminate your contributions. If you want to send a contribution, please e-mail a title and a brief summary paragraph to watercenter@wsu.edu. Also feel free to write to us should you have any comments that you would like to share. WWRC's address is: PO Box 643002, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-3002. Fax 509-335-1590.
     I hope that you will make Washington e-Water News your forum for water issues!

Claudio O. Stöckle, WWRC Director

Despite an increase in salmon returning to Columbia basin rivers this year, the need is greater than ever for Washington State University to continue its considerable efforts to assist in the recovery of the endangered fish. A team of WSU researchers has been assembled to supplement several ongoing projects related to salmon recovery.

Culverts, the large pipes and boxes that pass streams under roads and highways, can often inhibit fish migration into otherwise excellent upstream habitat. Many culverts have large scour holes downstream from the outlet, creating a waterfall that is difficult or impossible for the free movement of migrating fish. Others may concentrate flow so much that the water velocity is too high for migrating fish to pass. WSU researchers at the Albrook Hydraulics Laboratory are developing a handbook and a computer model to aid in the design of fish-friendly culverts.

As in many areas of the West, communities like the Methow Valley in Okanogan County, WA, had their origins in the mining booms of the 1800’s. Today, the presence of arsenic in private wells near abandoned mine and mill sites in the Methow Valley may constitute a potential health hazard requiring attention.

Washington is the second largest producer of potatoes in the country. The state’s 170,000 acres of potatoes produced 9.5 billion pounds in 1999, worth $447 million. As a high-end crop requiring substantial investment of resources and energy, potatoes demand the attention of growers and attract the attention of water watchers.

The Jordan Water Skills Enhancement and Information to Decision Makers (JWSE) project is a concept developed by a group of six Jordanian and US universities led by Washington State University (WSU) and University of Jordan (UOJ) in support of ongoing programs of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) to improve water resources management in Jordan. The project funded by USAID sets forth two pilot programs for two years. One provides short-term training for MWI skills enhancement in selected areas, and the other will carry out at least one focused study to provide MWI with information and recommendations for enhanced utilization of Zara and Zarqa-Ma'in spring water.

Research

	WWRC is involved in some new exciting research and outreach activities to improve water quality impacting salmon, develop regional coordination efforts for water quality research and extension, and participate in an international project to improve water resources management. Several ongoing projects support water-related research.
l l l	Improving Water Quality for Salmon Integration of Surface Irrigation Techniques Coordination of Water Quality Extension and Research Programs in the Pacific Northwest

News

	The Third Agriculture and Water Quality Conference
	The Agriculture, Fish and Water Process in Washington State

Resources

	Living on the Edge: Grassroots Watershed Planning in the Pacific Northwest
	WaterWiser: The Water Efficiency Clearinghouse
	Washington Irrigation Scheduling Expert (WISE) Software
	The Institute of Watershed Studies, Western Washington University

Washington Water Research Center

Director, Dr. Claudio O. Stöckle; Information Manager, Dr. Oumarou Badini; Administrative

Assistant, Diane L. Weber

Phone: 509-335-5531

Fax: 509-335-1590

E-mail: watercenter@wsu.edu

Web: www.swwrc.wsu.edu