YBSA Monthly Report August, 2016

YBSA Monthly Report

August, 2016

Reservoirs and Flip-Flop: The 5 reservoirs are at 43% of capacity with 1½ months remaining in the irrigation season. The flip-flop has begun which reduces the volume of water being released from Lake Cle Elum and increases the volume released from Rimrock Lake. The purpose of the flip-flop is to protect the areas where salmon spawn in the Cle Elum River.

Water Volumes: The volume of water entering the 5 reservoirs at this time is 637 cfs, releases from the reservoirs is 4379 cfs and the volume of water in the Yakima River below Prosser is 421 cfs.

Budget: The proposed budget request in the Washington State Capital Budget for 2017-2019 is $31.1 million. The request includes $5.4 million for surface storage. The proposed use is $2.4 million for Lake Kachess pumping project, and $3 million for the review of the Wymer and Bumping Reservoir projects.

YBSA Request: Yakima Basin Storage Alliance has requested the Bureau of Reclamation review the amount of water available in each of the proposed storage projects included in the Integrated Plan. The review should include the moderate adverse climate change scenario, and the historic hydrograph from the RiverWare model output. The drought-year proratable irrigation water supply goal of not less than 70% may not be achieved in every year with adverse climate change conditions.

Congressional Legislation: Information on the proposed Congressional legislation S 1694 and HR 4686 addressing the Yakima River Basin can be found at the top of the home page at www.ybsa.org.

Go to www.ybsa.org for additional information.