YBSA Monthly Report February, 2011

YBSA Monthly Report
February, 2011

Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan: YBSA will continue to work with the state Ecology and the federal Reclamation folks on their search for future water supplies in the Yakima Basin itself, we remain skeptical that the environmental conflicts that plagued this same effort during the past 30 years are going away, let alone the growing impacts of climate change, our declining aquifers for well water supplies, and the need for water for fish production.

Columbia Basin Renewable Energy Integration and Storage Project: But now, YBSA has a viable new idea. In Europe, they have said for centuries, “when the wind blows, pump water uphill”. So, when those thousands of wind turbines built along the Columbia River start to turn, all too often Bonneville Power feather the props because the power can’t be integrated into the northwest grid or shipped to California markets. This is a tragic loss of renewable energy and the money it generates. The time-honored answer: pump water uphill when power is virtually free, and run it back downhill when the energy can be sold. It is that simple, but complex to put in place.

We have the blueprint, and it could be called the “Columbia Basin Renewable Energy Integration and Storage Project”. YBSA has hired Jim Waldo, a very successful water attorney with a great record of “putting things together” to organize a number of interested parties in such a project, big players who provide electricity for the northwest, including the new wind power industry. Bonneville has given itself a year to find an answer to the wind integration dilemma which has them currently forced to “environmental redispatch” some wind energy by just plain turning it off, and the use of pumped storage is next on their option list for investment. The same energy balancing opportunity could be extremely useful for hydro power which now just flows to the sea once it leaves Grand Coulee.

At YBSA, we see ourselves as “coordinators” of this effort at this early stage, and we intend to share the prospects with all interested parties, including the state/federal Integrated Work Group that has advanced a lot of effort on fish and wildlife habitat, fish passage, water management, water banking, and quality. Their work on water supply is familiar ground that failed decades ago in Congress, and now faces the additional hurdles of the Endangered Species Act and no federal money, no earmarks.

The amount of pumped storage we need to solve the water supply woes of the Yakima Basin is comparatively small, and we have several years head start with the completed multi-million study of the irrigation use of Columbia River surplus. Pumped storage for energy storage works just as it does for irrigation except that we run stored water to supply the Roza and Sunnyside Canal systems, and the energy folks run it back into the Columbia when electricity is needed.

In other words, we get the benefits of an inter-basin transfer of water to meet our three goals: water for fish, water for people, and water for jobs . . . and the cost of doing this is reduced dramatically by partnering with folks who need the same investment.

March 9th Work Group Meeting: The Work Group meeting will be held Marth 9th from 9:30 am to noon at the Yakima Arboretum. The elements and associated actions included in the proposed integrated plan will be reviewed and the planning schedule and future Work Group meetings will be presented. Items included in the draft plan include fish passage, structural and operation changes, fish habitat enhancement, enhanced water conservation and storage. The storage element includes:

Surface Water Storage
 Wymer Dam New off-channel reservoir (162,500 a/f)
 Lake Kachess Inactive Storage Tap inactive storage volume (up to 200,000 a/f)
 Enlarge Bumping Lake Reservoir Enlarge reservoir to 190,000 a/f
 Columbia River Pump Exchange with Conduct feasibility study; and periodically evaluate
Yakima Basin Storage need for additional supplies

Groundwater Storage
 Shallow Aquifer Recharge Early spring infiltration to reduce reservoir releases
 Aquifer Storage and Recovery Off-season recharge of municipal supplies

Total cost of the plan is estimated to be $5.9 billion. The estimate does not include land acquisition for targeted watershed protection and enhancements. Estimated M&O annual cost is $15 million.

Restoration of Lower Yakima River: The lower Yakima River needs to be upgraded to meet the intent of the Clean Water Act. Temperature and nutrients are out of standards and there is a need to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous in a more natural way. The use of plants and trees would reduce the amount of phosphorous and the reduced sunlight will help. Increases in water flowing in the lower river will assist in reducing temperatures and allowing salmonoids including Sockeye to return in greater numbers. YBSA agreed to assist Bob Tuck in developing a plan to improve the quality of the lower Yakima River.

For additional information see www.ybsa.org