Photographs of the Touchet River Flood, 1964, 1950-1965

In December of 1964, three severe storms in the Pacific Northwest over the course of less than two weeks caused widespread flooding and destruction in California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and parts of Nevada. The “Christmas Flood” of 1964 killed 47, displaced thousands, caused over half a billion dollars’ worth of property damage, and remains the most severe flood on record in California. Among those rivers flooded was the Touchet River in southeastern Washington State, running through Walla Walla County.

In response to the flooding, communities along the affected river systems, including the Touchet River, built dikes to confine the floodwaters in the event of future storms. These have not always proven successful, as flooding has occurred on the Touchet since the Christmas Flood, including in 1996 and 2017. Subsequent efforts to confine river waters and prevent further property damage have been met with mixed opinions, on the grounds that such preventative measures come at the cost of fish habitats.