Mill Creek Master Plan
List of Photos

Photo 1-1	Oblique aerial view of MCP, with city of Walla Walla in background.
Photo 1-2	Oblique aerial view of MCP. The MCP is located in both grassland and riparian vegetation areas in the Walla Walla Valley, and lies on the edge of the foothills of the Blue Mountains. Water is diverted from Mill Creek into Virgil B. Bennington Lake.
Photo 1-3	Fishing on Virgil B. Bennington Lake. The lake provides primarily water-related recreation (i.e., fishing, boating, swimming, and aesthetics).
Photo 1-4	Mill Creek Channel also provides water-oriented opportunities for visitors.
Photo 1-5	The MCP provides excellent habitat for a variety of wildlife, in contrast to the surrounding agricultural fields.
Photo 2-1	Walla Walla, Washington. The city and its environs has a current population of 37,000, and is adjacent to MCP. The population is forecasted to grow at a rate higher than the State of Washington.
Photo 2-2	Access to MCP is excellent from U.S. Highway 12 and the main roads near Walla Walla.
Photo 2-3	Agriculture is a major land use and cover type in the area.
Photo 2-4	Scenic Quality. Lands surrounding the upland portion of MCP have a low capacity to absorb visual impacts due to low vegetation, rolling topography, and the lack of vegetation cover that can provide a screen. The setting, with its long vistas and rural quality, provides high scenic quality.
Photo 2-5	From Mill Creek, water during the late spring and summer months is divided at MCP into Yellowhawk Creek, which is used for irrigation.
Photo 2-6	Poor water quality from low flow on Mill Creek begins below Division Dam, which moves water to Yellowhawk Creek for irrigation purposes.
Photo 2-7	High spring flow helps scour new pools, providing improved habitat (February 19, 1982).
Photo 2-8	Newspaper advertisement for the Annual Kids Fishing Derby.
Photo 2-9	The Lake Recreation Area is undeveloped.
Photo 2-10	The MCP often serves as an environmental education area, as well as a place for water resource recreation.
Photo 3-1	Flood damage in Walla Walla, Washington.
Photo 3-2	Project Office. Substandard facilities scheduled to be replaced.
Photo 3-3	Lake Recreation Area. The area needs additional facilities to meet the public demand.
Photo 3-4	Fishing is the single most popular recreation activity at MCP. It is project to increase between 24 and 28 percent by the year 2000.
Photo 3-5	Annual Mill Creek Run. Many community events take place at MCP.
Photo 3-6	The MCP offers low-density recreation opportunities for the visiting public such as hiking, horseback riding, wildlife observation, and hunting.
Photo 3-7	Fencing and signing were installed to protect the public, while still maintaining a pleasant environment and visual quality.
Photo 3-8	Swimming is popular at Virgil B. Bennington Lake, but water quality is currently a problem in the summer months.
Photo 3-9	Agricultural encroachments.
Photo 3-10	The display at Rooks Park is the only interpretive display at MCP.
Photo 3-11	Rooks Park display depicting the story of war hero Albert Harold Rooks.
Photo 3-12	The MCP offers educational experiences for all ages.
Photo 3-13	Wetland and riparian area behind Diversion Dam. Wetland and riparian zones are important to wildlife, improving water quality, and providing visual resources.
Photo 3-14	The majority of MCP was originally in agricultural production, as are the surrounding lands at the present time. Through wildlife plantings, MCP now offers an excellent diversity of vegetation types that, in return, provide excellent wildlife habitat. The intake canal is in the middle ground.
Photo 3-15	Anadromous fish ladder at Division Dam on Mill Creek. Division Dam diverts water into Yellowhawk Creek, which is a delta stream of Mill Creek.
Photo 3-16	Walla Walla Air Base Emergency Water Reservoir (on the right side of the photo, taken in 1962) was constructed during World War II. The reservoir was covered, for safety reasons, in the 1980's.
Photo 3-17	Visual Resources. This panorama view, looking towards the Blue Mountains, shows the high scenic quality of the landscape around Virgil B. Bennington Lake and its environs.
Photo 3-18	Poor site location of the maintenance area provides negative visual impacts for visitors. The area is adjacent to the Mill Creek Recreation Trail.
Photo 3-19	Mill Creek Dam, in the foreground, blends into the landscape.
Photo 5-1	Mill Creek Diversion Management Unit. Oblique view of the area behind Diversion Dam that needs to be dredged periodically to ensure that the facilities can divert water to Virgil B. Bennington Lake, thereby preventing flooding within the city of Walla Walla and its environs.
Photo 5-2	Mill Creek Dam.
Photo 5-3	Virgil B. Bennington Lake
Photo 5-4	Mill Creek Office and Information Center Management Unit. Aerial view of relocated Project Office, information center, and maintenance area.
Photo 5-5	Mill Creek Channel Management Unit viewed from Mill Creek Trail. Footbridge connecting Mill Creek Trail and South Mill Creek Trail is in the middleground.
Photo 5-6	Mill Creek Channel Management Unit. Oblique view of the channel, looking west.
Photo 5-7	Mill Creek Channel Management Unit. Looking downstream from the footbridge.
Photo 5-8	Rooks Park Management Unit. Oblique view of Rooks Park, looking west.
Photo 5-9	Rooks Park Management Unit. Example of proposed fishing dock along Mill Creek Channel.
Photo 5-10	Rooks Park Management Unit. The pond at Rooks Park was part of the original Mill Creek Channel.
Photo 5-11	Bennington Lake Recreation Area Management Unit. Proposed swim beach area at the fishing peninsula.
Photo 5-12	Bennington Lake Recreation Area Management Unit. The existing boat ramp only extends to elevation 1200.
Photo 5-13	Bennington Lake Recreation Area Management Unit. Access along the lake is rocky and dangerous to both the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Photo 5-14	Bennington Lake Recreation Area Management Unit. Area for the proposed group picnic shelter.
Photo 5-15	Bennington Lake Road Management Unit. Oblique view of Bennington Lake Road and the Mill Creek Outlet Channel.
Photo 5-16	Yellowhawk Park Management Unit. The area contains restroom and trailhead parking adjacent to Mill Creek Channel and Yellowhawk Creek.
Photo 5-17	Yellowhawk Park Management Unit. Existing Project Office to be relocated. The existing office is adjacent to Mill Creek Channel, and has negative visual quality.
Photo 5-18	Mill Creek Recreation Trail Management Unit. The Mill Creek Recreation Trail is the major developed trail in the Walla Walla Valley.
Photo 5-19	Mill Creek Recreation Trail Management Unit. This bench is one of the minor facilities along the trail.
Photo 5-20	Fort Walla Walla Timber Reserve Habitat Management Unit is undeveloped, and is shown here after the first season of conversion from cropland to native grasses.
>Photo 5-21	Fort Walla Walla Timber Reserve Habitat Management Unit. View of the Mill Creek Channel from the edge of the Fort Walla Walla Timber Reserve, which was just recently mowed during its development.
Photo 5-22	Mill Creek Environmentally Sensitive Area Management Unit. View of Mill Creek Environmentally Sensitive Rea, which contains sensitive wetlands and riparian vegetation.
Photo 5-23	Yellowhawk-Garrison Environmentally Sensitive Area Management Unit.
Photo 5-24	South Mill Creek Trail is located on the left in this photo. It runs parallel to the Mill Creek Channel.
Photo 5-25	The primitive group camping area found off the South Mill Creek Trail.
Photo 5-26	The trail leading to the primitive camping area.
Photo 5-27	Bennington Habitat Management Unit surrounds Virgil B. Bennington Lake on three sides.
Photo 5-28	Bennington Habitat Management Unit. Extensive habitat development has been created in this management unit by WDW and the Corps.
Photo 5-29	Russell Creek Habitat Management Unit. Wildlife plantings by the WDW along Russell Creek Outlet Channel, as viewed from Mill Creek Dam.
Photo 5-30	Rooks Park Road Management Unit. This management unit connects Mill Creek Road and Rooks Park.
Photo 5-31	Russell Creek Canal Management Unit. Typical view of the channel, looking down the channel from Russell Creek Road.
Photo 5-32	Russell Creek Flowage Easement.

Photo 1-1	April 1931 flood at Main Street, Walla Walla, Washington.
Photo 1-2	The MCP provides the public with a variety of recreational opportunities in a scenic setting.
Photo 1-3	The MCP Project Office
Photo 2-1	Walla Walla District used Intergraph® Work Stations and Software to implement GIS.
Photo 2-2	Palouse Section. The Snake River cuts through the Palouse Section, exposing basalt lava flows.
Photo 2-3	The Blue Mountains and Mill Creek Drainage Basin.
Photo 3-1	Aerial view of MCP and its environs.
Photo 3-2	1931 flood in downtown Walla Walla, Washington.
Photo 3-3	Low flows below the division works are a major contributor to poor water quality.
Photo 3-4	Algal blooms in Mill Creek Channel result from high nutrient levels and stagnation.
Photo 3-5	A variety of upland vegetation has developed on MCP in contrast to surrounding agricultural fields.
Photo 3-6	Riparian vegetation along Mill Creek Channel.
Photo 3-7	Extensive wetlands have developed behind Diversion Dam.
Photo 3-8	1949 aerial photo of MCP, prior to WDG wildlife plantings and the lake (September 14, 1949).
Photo 3-9	1987 aerial photo of MCP. The vegetation types on MCP are in sharp contrast to the surrounding area.
Photo 3-10	Wetlands on the project support a variety of amphibians, including a bullfrog in the pond at Rooks Park.
Photo 3-11	Downy woodpecker in riparian vegetation (black cottonwood).
Photo 3-12	Ducks in the Mill Creek Channel.
Photo 3-13	Great Blue Heron in Mill Creek Channel below Diversion Dam.
Photo 3-14	White-tailed deer along Mill Creek.
Photo 3-15	Upper reach of Mill Creek.
Photo 3-16	Middle reach of Mill Creek. Agricultural activities begin 3 miles north of the Washington/Oregon border.
Photo 3-17	Lower reach of Mill Creek begins at Division Works.
Photo 3-18	Virgil B. Bennington Lake at elevation 1205. Fishing is popular all year long.
Photo 3-19	Marcus Whitman (sketch from Paul Kane).
Photo 3-20	Narcissa Whitman (sketch from Paul Kane).
Photo 3-21	Hand excavation of channel under 4th Avenue Bridge (11/2/36).
Photo 3-22	Completed blanket revetment west of 6th Street Bridge (2/26/37).
Photo 3-23	Completing south blanket revetment west of 6th Street Bridge (2/26/37).
Photo 3-24	Mill Creek Diversion Dam under construction.
Photo 3-25	Mill Creek Channel and diversion site under construction (2/26/37).
Photo 3-26	Field office and soils laboratory (10/01/40). The field office occupies the project office today.
Photo 3-27	Intake canal under construction (05/27/40).
Photo 3-28	Mill Creek Dam under construction.
Photo 3-29	Mill Creek Channel under construction. Placement of concrete paving on bottom of channel.
Photo 3-30	Walla Walla Community College is adjacent to the project.
Photo 3-31	Mill Creek Project is easily accessible from Mill Creek Road and from U.S. Highway 12.
Photo 3-32	Pedestrians and bicyclists take advantage of both the foot bridge and this bridge provided on the project.
Photo 3-33	Service roads on the project also serve as informal trails for recreationalists.
Photo 3-34	The Diversion Levee prevents flooding along the flat Mill Creek floodplain.
Photo 3-35	Diversion Dam. View from South Mill creek Trail.
Photo 3-36	Debris Facilities. Two types of barriers collect debris.
Photo 3-37	Headworks allows floodwaters to move from Mill Creek to the Intake Canal.
Photo 3-38	Intake Canal facilities.
Photo 3-39	The concrete canal transports water from Mill Creek to Virgil B. Bennington Lake.
Photo 3-40	Mill Creek Dam. This 1958 photo clearly shows the earthen dam.
Photo 3-41	Mill Creek Return Canal returns floodwater stored in the lake to return to Mill Creek.
Photo 3-42	Russell Creek Return Canal is used only in emergencies.
Photo 3-43	Division Dam on Mill Creek allows water to be transferred to Yellowhawk and Garrison Creeks.
Photo 3-44	Storage building at Rooks Park.
Photo 3-45	Restroom at Rooks Park.
Photo 3-46	Wildlife habitat plantings.
Photo 3-47	Fish ladder entrance at the First Division Dam.
Photo 3-48	Boulders placed in Mill Creek Channel.
Photo 3-49	Rooks Park.
Photo 3-50	Project Office area.
Photo 3-51	Mill Creek Channel runs from Diversion Dam to the project boundary below Division Dam (this photo is only a section of the channel).
Photo 3-52	Lake Recreation Area.
Photo 3-53	Wildlife area.
Photo 3-54	Bicycling falls under the category of "other."
Photo 3-55	Picnicking is most popular in the spring at Rooks Park.
Photo 3-56	Fishing is popular in both Mill Creek and Virgil B. Bennington Lake.
Photo 3-57	Wading and swimming are popular summer activities, both in Mill Creek and at Virgil B. Bennington Lake.
Photo 3-58	Boating on Virgil B. Bennington Lake. Visitation by recreation users and sightseers is a major influence on visual resource management.
Photo 3-59	Mill Creek Dam blends into the surrounding landscape because of its color and texture.
Photo 3-60	The large old-growth cottonwoods and open lawns of Rooks Park are the major aesthetic reasons the park receives such high visitation.
Photo 3-61	Straight rows of wildlife plantings, contrasting with the natural vegetation patterns can be seen on the project. View from the top of Mill Creek Dam.
Photo 3-62	The security fence around the Project Office does not welcome the public to the project.
Photo 3-63	Trees and shrubs on the project, in contrast to the surrounding agriculture, wildlife, and the views of the Blue Mountains, contribute to the high scenic quality of MCP.

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