Bateman Island Causeway Restoration
The project aims to restore the health of the Yakima River delta for salmon which serve as a first food for the Yakama Nation.
Background of Bateman Island Causeway
The Bateman island causeway is located in Richland, Washington at the Yakima River delta at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia River. The causeway was installed between 1939-1940 for agricultural purposes by the Army Corps of Engineers, along with other funding supplied by local duck and geese hunters to alow further access to hunting area. Since its installation salmon and steelhead populations have been threatened by the warming and slowing of the water in the Yakima River delta due to the causeway. The causeway is source of income as many farmers use the water from the delta for irrigation. Other than agricultural purposes the causeway is also used recreationally for boating, fishing, hiking, bird watching, etc. There is ongoing conversation about the removal of the causeway and resoration projects supported by the Yakama Nation and the Confeterated Tribes of the Umatilla in hopes to remove the causeway to improve migration of salmon and steelhead in the Yakima River.
Ecological Impacts of Causeway
The Bateman Island Causeway poses significant impactats to the Yakima River Delta as it causes warm backwaters that increase river temperatures that create a nursery for predatory fish such as bass and catfish. The causeway alters the natural flow of the water which along with warm waters and predatory fish poses threat to steelhead and salmon. The warm water confuses salmon returing up the Yakima River as well as puts the smolts going down the Yakima River in incresing danger of being preyed upon by large populations of bass and catfish. The causeway also creates an invinting environment for toxic algae blooms and other growth of invasive plants that can degrade water quality.
Intended Outcomes of Restoration Project
- Improve access to around 1,200 miles of native fish habitat
- Restore natural flows of river to improve temperatures thretaning migratory salmon and steelhead
- Improve water quality in the Yakima Delta
- Decrease human health risks by reducing toxic algae blooms and mosquito populations in recreational areas
Significance to Yakama Nation and Tribal Water Rights
The Yakima River is co-managed by the Yakama Nation and serves as spawning grounds for salmon which are culturally significant and are a first food of the Yakama people. Often waterways such as the Yakima or Columbia River are damed up or polluted by farmlands with much disregard to the salmon that rely on these rivers to compelete their lifecycle as well as Indigenous people who are closely connected to salmon as a form of subsistence food or for ceremony. The water quality is often depleted and in turn both salmon and Indigenous peoples livelihoods are harmed. The removal of the causeway would be important to the resoration of salmon and steelhead to a river that is culturally siginificant to the Yakama people.
