On the eastern edge of the Columbia Basin, the effect of the rain shadow lessens, providing for greater annual precipitation, and so called "meadow steppe" communities replace the sagebrush steppe. Meadow steppe communities have less big sagebrush than do sagebrush steppe communities, and, in some parts of southeastern Washington, big sagebrush is largely lacking from the steppe communities. The meadow steppe communities in southeastern Washington are covered extensively by bunchgrasses. The bluebunch wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum) that is common in sagebrush steppe is also found in meadow steppe. In addition, because of the greater moisture that is available on the eastern side of the Columbia Basin, another bunchgrass, Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), is also present. Although shrubby big sagebrush are not common in parts of the meadow steppe, other shrubs are common. For example, snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) is a low growing, wirey shrub that is common in meadow steppe.

Even though the eastern side of the Columbia Basin receives slightly more precipitation than the area just east of the Cascade Mountains, the Basin region is generally characterized by a climate with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers. Rains come in the spring and fall. In this climate, plants must be able to resist drought in the summer and freezing temperatures in the winter. Many plants of the Columbia Basin tend to bloom either in early spring or in the fall. Most members of the plant communities tend to be perennials that live and flower for more than one growing season. These perennials tend to store food in underground structures (large roots or underground stems, such as tubers or rhizomes). These nutrients are used to make flowers in inconspicuous underground stems in the summer or fall and to push up blossoms in the early spring, sometimes before the new leaves for a growing season are well developed.

Near our transect in southeastern Washington, you can follow a nature trail with informative signs through meadow steppe at Wawawai County Park in the Snake River Canyon south of Pullman. In the early spring, the numerous perennials characteristic of meadow steppe begin to form new growth from underground structures that weather the harsh dry summer and cold winter. Many of the showy flowering plants found in the sagebrush steppe are also found in the meadow steppe. In addition to the buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus), blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium inflatum), and lupine (Lupinus sericeus), shown above in the description of sagebrush steppe, some other plants that the two steppe regions share include arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), Douglas's brodiaea (Triteleia grandiflora), and long-leafed phlox (Phlox longifolia). Both parts of the Columbia Basin steppe have numerous kinds of biscuitroot (Lomatium), milkvetch (Astragalus) and wild onion (Allium).

Modern life has brought many changes to natural plant communities. The farming introduced to Washington in the last 150 years has been particularly disruptive to native communities. Farming requires the widespread disruption of native plant communities to create space to grow crops. Because eastern Washington is used extensively for agriculture, few relatively undisturbed meadow steppe communities remain, and these tend to be small parcels of land. Most remaining bits of meadow steppe include many non-native (introduced) plants. Farming creates disturbances that open plant communities to colonization by introduced plants. Various non-native plants arrive even as seeds that are mixed with the seeds of crop plants. Some plant introductions are particularly problematic in the meadow steppe region, including downy cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and yellow-star thistle (Centaurea solstitialis). These are called noxious weeds because they can outcompete both native and cultivated crop plants, causing changes in the composition of native communities and pushing out many native species.

Much of the land once covered by meadow steppe is now used for agriculture.	Disturbances created by agriculture open communities to colonization by introduced plants.