The Walla Walla River is a tributary of the

Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...

, joining the Columbia just above

Wallula Gap Wallula Gap () is a large water gap of the Columbia River in the northwest United States in southeast Washington. It cuts through the Horse Heaven Hills basalt anticlines in the Columbia River Basin, just south of the confluence of the Wa ...

in southeastern

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in the United States. The river flows through

Umatilla County, Oregon Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,075. Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remains the county seat. Umatilla County is part of ...

, and

Walla Walla County, Washington Walla Walla County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 62,584. The county seat and largest city is Walla Walla. The county was formed on April 25, 1854 and is named after the Walla W ...

. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

is in area.Walla Walla Subbasin Plan
Northwest Power and Conservation Council

Course

The headwaters of the Walla Walla River lie in the Blue Mountains of northeastern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The river originates as the North and South Forks of the Walla Walla River. The surrounding forested land holds a network of hiking and mountain-biking trails. The confluence of the North and South Forks lies east of Milton–Freewater, Oregon. The river flows eastward to reach Milton–Freewater, which is built along its banks, and then flows northward through Milton–Freewater. Irrigation water is drawn from the river here and at numerous locations along the river. The Walla Walla River flows southwest of the city of Walla Walla in the Walla Walla valley. Mill Creek, which flows through the city of Walla Walla, joins the Walla Walla River at the

Whitman Mission Whitman Mission National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located just west of Walla Walla, Washington, at the site of the former Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu. On November 29, 1847, Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa ...

west of the city of Walla Walla. The

Touchet River The Touchet River is a tributary of the Walla Walla River in southeastern Washington in the United States. The Touchet River drains an area of about in Columbia County and Walla Walla County.Washington Road & Recreation Atlas, Benchmark Maps, ...

joins the Walla Walla at the town of

Touchet, Washington Touchet ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 421 at the 2010 census. History Prior to removal to reservations, there was a village of Walla Walla people located near the prese ...

. The annual mean

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from ser ...

of the Walla Walla River just below the Touchet River confluence is . The maximum recorded discharge was in 1964.Water Resources Data, Washington Water year 2005
USGS Water-Data Reports The river enters the Columbia a mile south of the town of

Wallula Wallula () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 179 at the 2010 census. History The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached this area April 27, 1806, on their return journey from the ...

just north of

. The section of the Columbia River is called Wallula Lake, the reservoir impoundment created by McNary Dam.

History

The Walla Walla tribe occupied the region around the Walla Walla river prior to white settlers entry to the region. The

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

(1804–1806) was the first

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back—the return expedition stopped at the mouth of the Walla Walla and stayed with the Walla Walla tribe for a portion of the journey, proceeding from there overland to the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

. British explorer David Thompson was the first European to navigate the entire length of the Columbia River, to the Pacific Ocean, in 1811.

Fort Nez Percés Fort Nez Percés (or Fort Nez Percé, with or without the accent aigu), later known as (Old) Fort Walla Walla, was a fortified fur trading post on the Columbia River on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington. Despite being named after the ...

(later known as

Fort Walla Walla Fort Walla Walla is a United States Army fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. The first Fort Walla Walla was established July 1856, by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Steptoe, 9th Infantry Regiment. A second Fort Walla Walla was occupied Septem ...

) was a fortified

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most ...

post on the

on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington. It was in operation from 1818 until 1857 on the eastern shore of the Columbia River, immediately north of the mouth of the Walla Walla River. The

Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to ...

ended joint U.S.A. - British occupation that had been effect since the

Treaty of 1818 The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, is an international treaty signed in 1818 betw ...

. The fort was abandoned in 1857 when the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

gave up its

Columbia District The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company bet ...

business in the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. O ...

. The Whitman Mission was established in 1836. It lies near the banks of the river to the west of the modern city of Walla Walla.

Fish

The Walla Walla River supports populations of spring

Chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus '' Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ...

, summer

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...

, and

bull trout The bull trout (''Salvelinus confluentus'') is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, ''S. confluentus'' has been known as the " Dolly Varden" (''S. malma''), but was reclassified as a separate speci ...

among other species. There is a sport fishery for steelhead in the river. It also holds

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

and smallmouth bass in the summer.

Science

Work done by Oregon and Washington State governments, federal and state environmental agencies and local watershed councils and groups on the Walla Walla River & the overall catchment area has produced a wide range of studies. The Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council (WWBWC www.wwbwc.org) has both electronic and paper copies of many of these reports that date back to the 1930s. Considerable work has gone into the assessment of water quantity and quality for the purpose of salmon recovery and sustainable irrigation supply. A highly-connected alluvial groundwater system and its over-abstraction through over-allocated irrigation usage have also acted to influence flows and quality in the Walla Walla River. The promise of the Walla Walla River lies in its integrated water-management strategy using Managed Aquifer Recharge (Or Shallow Aquifer Recharge) to utilise available non-irrigation season water to replenish groundwater supplies and the over-allocation of groundwater resources by both state governments. The Walla Walla partnership along with the WWBWC set a national example with this innovative and low-cost alternative to surface storage using dams.

Photos

References

External links

Flows and Forecasts on the Walla Walla River
{{authority control Rivers of Oregon Rivers of Washington (state) Lewis and Clark Expedition Tributaries of the Columbia River Rivers of Umatilla County, Oregon