The Catherine Creek Irrigation Efficiency and Water Quality Improvements project is a proposed Conservation Implementation Strategy (CIS) aimed at offering incentives for landowners and water users to improve water quality and quantity. The opportunities offered will include; livestock access to off channel watering facilities, riparian enhancement and protection as well as practices to improve irrigation efficiency that will reduce water use for landowners and water users on ditch networks associated with reaches of Catherine Creek, Little Creek, and Mill Creek.

The Union Soil and Water Conservation District (District) is currently collaborating with landowners in this project area to develop conservation and restoration actions to improve water quality, water quantity, fish habitat conditions, and anadromous fish passage in a conservation implementation strategy. Coordinating this CIS with these other conservation efforts will allow water users and landowners to make improvements to their water delivery systems and will build on the effort of water conservation in these sub-watersheds. Additionally, this CIS will support other restoration work in the Upper Grande Ronde River Sub-basin to help meet requirements of the 2019 Biological Opinion for the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS BiOp) for improving conditions for ESA-listed fish species by augmenting stream flows to create more ideal flow and water temperature conditions.​