YBSA Monthly Report February, 2014

YBSA Monthly Report

February, 2014

Snow Shortage Worries Yakima River Water Users. By Kristi Pihl, Tri-City Herald Feb 16, 2014: The reservoirs for the Yakima River Basin are storing about 116 percent of the average water for this time of year, thanks to carryover water from the two previous good water supply years. But those reservoirs only store about 1 million acre feet of water, when 2 million to 2.5 million acre feet of water is needed in the Yakima Basin each year for irrigation, instream flows, and some municipal uses, said Jim Trull, Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District manager. In an average year, the water yield is about 3 million acre feet, he said. But so far, this year hasn’t shaped up as average.

Since October, it’s been unusually dry, said Nic Loyd, Washington State University’s AgWeatherNet meteorologist. This is the time of year when the mountain snow pack in the Cascades builds up. Snowpack, which Washington uses as a reservoir, hasn’t improved enough yet to prevent a drought, Pattee said. Snowpack for the Lower Yakima River Basin was up to about 72 percent of the average as of earlier this week. That’s up about 7 percent from the beginning of the month.

The impact of a potential drought on some Mid-Columbia water users is tempered because some irrigation districts, including Columbia and Sunnyside Valley, have senior water rights that the state and federal government can’t limit. But for junior water right holders, the state can prorate their water rights when there is a drought, meaning that the water users will only get a percentage of the water they have the right to use when water is plentiful.

Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District, which provides irrigation water in Yakima and Benton counties, is in a better situation than some others because two-thirds of the district’s water rights are senior, Trull said. Only receiving a percentage of one-third of the district’s junior water rights could be a significant issue, but it’s not at the same level as those who only have junior water rights.

The Kennewick Irrigation District also has junior water rights.

Yakima Basin Plan-Initial Development Phase: This proposed development phase will span the time frame from passage of the state’s Integrated Plan authorizing legislation in 2013 through the year 2023. The initial development phase would involve requests for funding for a number of specific capital projects including the:

• Kachess Drought Relief      Pumping Plant – $205 million
• Fish Passage at Lake Cle      Elum – $87 million, and
• Three-foot pool raise at      Lake Cle Elum – $18 million.

A fourth project, the $159 million Lake Keechelus to Lake Kachess Conveyance project, will likely be included in the Kachess Drought Relief Pumping Plant project.

Other components of the initial development phase include proposals for agricultural conservation projects, floodplain and tributary habitat restoration projects and acquisitions, additional fish passage projects, aquifer storage and recovery, and water banking and exchange programs.

The total estimated cost of the initial development phase could range between $607 million to $766 million. There is $31 million in current funding for the Integrated Plan Projects.

Go to www.ybsa.org for additional information.