YBSA Monthly Report May, 2015

YBSA Monthly Report

May, 2015

Water in the Yakima Basin:

1. The Yakima Valley economy depends on water storage for its agricultural economy, population growth, and ecosystem.

2. Droughts are common in the area, but climate change indicators point to more severe droughts, more often.

3. The Integrated Plan purports to provide increased storage through 4 projects (Bumping Lake, Lake Cle Elum, Lake Kachess, and Wymer) but are all the projects viable?

4. The surface water storage element in the Integrated Plan includes a review of water transfer from the Columbia River to the Yakima River Basin. As of June 3, 2015 no review has begun.

5. Is the capacity of the surface water storage projects presented in the Integrated Plan sufficient to meet instream and out-of-stream needs over the long term? Proposed storage projects will not provide enough water volume, predictable supply, and storage capacity for future needs. Total cost = $4.4 billion over 30 years (from Normandeau Associates).

The water supply update at the end of May provides 44% of the normal supply of water to the junior irrigation districts. An update on available supply of water will be provided each month (from the Bureau of Reclamation).

The estimated crop loss during this year’s drought is $1.2 billion. In addition to the crop loss, fewer agricultural jobs will be available.

Using the water to address this year’s drought in each reservoir that normally is retained as carryover for 2016 and predictions of a second year of less than normal snowpack would create a more severe drought in 2016.

See link below for water issues.

http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2015/06/reversing-william-shatners-idea-moving.html

Go to www.ybsa.org for additional information.