Comprehensive Irrigation District Management Plan (CIDMP)

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The Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council, in collaboration with state and federal resource agencies, agricultural representatives, and the Walla Walla Watershed Alliance has developed a pioneering, performance-based approach to environmental management at a watershed scale that is now being tested in several basins around the state.

This new framework, the Comprehensive Irrigation District Management Plan (CIDMP), gives irrigation districts, landowners, and others the option of designing efficient solutions at a watershed or sub-basin scale that meet measurable environmental performance standards.

This voluntary alternative to conventional "command and control" regulation promises to greatly - and verifiably -- improve ecosystem health and provide more efficient and effective ways to address an array of environmental needs (including compliance with ESA, CWA, and other requirements).

This "next generation" approach to environmental management is already showing great progress in simultaneously improving economic (agricultural), environmental, and community health. The CIDMP framework is essentially a business planning approach to managing for these multiple objectives, using scientific assessment, measurable goals, an action plan, and a means for measuring and rewarding progress. The CIDMP pilot program has national implications and would benefit from the following types of federal support:

• Technical assistance in developing the system, setting performance measures, and certifying compliance with key requirements;
   
• Creative interpretation and integration of federal laws, regulations, and programs to help demonstrate the application of this performance-based approach in a streamlined and efficient manner;
   
• Funding for the pilot project design, engagement of key parties, scientific assessment and analysis, development of model tools and approaches, implementation of action plans, and monitoring and adaptive management;
   
• Independent studies evaluating the application of the CIDMP framework in different contexts to better understand the dynamics that will make it an efficient, effective, and successful alternative to conventional regulation.

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Links for more CIDMP information:

Distinguishing features of the CIDMP

Overview Presentation of Key CIDMP Elements (PDF, 63KB)

Federal Funding for CIDMP Pilot Program (March  2003)

Upriver CIDMP Organizational Strategy White Paper (PDF, 118KB)

Walla Walla Steelhead and Bull Trout Take Analysis overview (PDF, 2.8MB)

Estimate of Conservation Plan Effects on ESA-Listed Fish in the Walla Walla Basin - Progress through May 2004 (PDF, 1.6MB)

Oregon Walla Walla Off-District CIDMP - Progress Update Spring-Summer 2004 (PDF, 2.9MB)

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CIDMP 3/31/05 Update:

The eight chapters of the draft CIDMP are being reviewed, edited, and modified with new information. Descriptions of upriver facilities and conditions are being changed to reflect recent work completed on two of the ditches. The facilities description is nearly complete. The baseline conditions are complete. Additional project development has been occurring. We are waiting on results from the Take Analysis Model for land and water management effects on ESA species. Conservation measures are being further refined to reflect recent engineering recon work done for two of the ditches and landowner feedback on those sites. The predicted effects chapter is being revised based on information from the Take Analysis and the EDT runs. The implementation framework chapter is nearly complete.

We have been incorporating information from the ESA assurances work completed by NRCS for North Central Oregon. We have been starting to get Oregon State Agency input regarding conservation activities and agency commitments. We have also been integrating the plan with other plans, especially incorporating passages from the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds.

We have been working on the development of our negotiation strategy, and are providing assistance and input on the initial negotiating package. We are also defining the Environmental Analysis requirements and developing a scope of work for those activities. Outreach for the HCP and CIDMP has occurred with OWEB, BPA, and other state agencies. A summary of progress was presented at the March 2005 HCPCC meeting.

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