The tribal name, Walla Walla, means "many small waters," which well describes the braided-stream system that flows from the mountains of two states. Its abundant resources sustained Native Americans for generations. The inland West receives abundant winter precipitation but has arid summers; during the mid-1800s, Euro-American settlers started to divert Walla Walla Basin rivers to irrigate farms. By the 1920s, irrigation dams had extirpated abundant runs of native Chinook salmon. Periodic flooding of developing towns prompted extensive channeling projects, helping to create a seasonally dry river that required annual rescues of stranded fish.

In 1998 and 1999 respectively, bull trout and summer steelhead were listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In 2000, faced with enforcement actions by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, and a lawsuit by a coalition of environmental organizations, irrigators chose a proactive, innovative solution. They engaged federal agencies and environmentalists in conversations to create shared understanding. Reaching out to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, irrigators pledged to "help bring back their fish," prompting a partnership with the Tribal Council to "keep farmers farming."

Gardena Farms, Hudson Bay, and Walla Walla River Irrigation Districts, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Walla Walla, Columbia and Umatilla Counties; Walla Walla City, Oregon Watershed Council; Washington Watershed Planning Unit, Snake River Salmon Recovery Board, Kooskooskie Commons, Watershed Alliance. Tri-State Steelheaders, and others.