Banks Lake Watershed
This section is for reference only. The sign-up period for this watershed has closed.

The Banks Lake watershed comprises approximately 381,812 acres over three Eastern Washington counties; Douglas, Grant and Lincoln. The land use of this watershed consists of rangeland, cropland and recreation, with 33,345 acres covered in surface water.

There are approximately 363 farms and ranches in the watershed utilizing 146,250 acres to produce small grain peas, lentils and hay.

Much of the watershed was formed by glacial Lake Missoula flood waters during the Pleistocene.  The flood waters scoured away the thick loess soil covering the Columbia Plateau and exposed the basalt bedrock.  The basalt plateaus bordering the main flood channels are patterned by 'scabs' (mounds of loess) surrounded by rock fragments.  The most common native vegetation on the scabland channels is the stiff sage-Sandberg’s Bluegrass association.  Mean annual precipitation is 9 to 15 inches, increasing from west to east.

Map of Banks Lake Watershed                                             
 

Counties in Banks Lake Watershed

• Douglas
• Grant
• Lincoln

Land Cover/Use

For General and Application Information, visit our national NRCS CSP home page.



Washington State NRCS Informational Materials

Banks Lake Watershed CSP Eligibility, Qualification and Application Steps   (.PDF file 190 KB)
 

PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader.  Click to download a copy.

Program Contacts

Ross Lahren
Asst. State Conservationist for Programs
USDA  - Natural Resources Conservation Service
316 W. Boone Ave  Suite 450
Spokane, WA  99201
509.323.2971

Doug Allen
District Conservationist
Ephrata USDA Service Center
Phone:  (509) 754-2463 Ext. 106
Fax:      (509) 754-4705
2145 Basin St. SW   Suite B
Ephrata, WA   98823-9451
 

< Back to ... 2005 CSP Watersheds