YBSA Monthly Report April, 2011

YBSA Monthly Report
April, 2011

YBSA Contract with GTH: YBSA is discussing a contract with James C. Waldo of the Gordon Thomas Honeywell, LLP (GTH) law firm to begin the Columbia River Renewable Energy/Irrigation Storage Project. The Central Columbia River Pumped Storage Project may simultaneously benefit the Pacific Northwest’s renewable energy industry, agriculture, and salmon recovery. The “Columbia Renewable Energy Storage Project” (“CRESP” or “Project”) promises to make major strides toward solving three of the Columbia Basin’s most vexing problems: storing intermittent output from the Pacific Northwest’s large and growing fleet of renewable electric generators (especially wind generators) so that power is available when needed; providing a reliable supply of water for agricultural and municipal uses in the Yakima River Basin; and, returning the Yakima River to its status as one of the Northwest’s premier producers of salmon and steelhead. The preliminary conclusions concerning the potential benefits of CRESP based upon our review of information compiled by Energy Northwest, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Corp of Engineers, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and other energy industry experts.

The next logical step in moving the Project from a concept to a reality is a thorough engineering and economic analysis to determine whether, as currently conceptualized, the Project is practicable from an engineering standpoint and will provide benefits sufficient to justify the major capital investment that will be required to construct the Project. If the analysis demonstrates that the Project, as currently envisioned, is economical, it will lay the foundation for moving forward with the Project by, for example, developing appropriate legal structures, identifying needed refinements in project design and analysis, attracting the large amount of capital necessary to construct a pumped-storage project on the scale required, and ultimately for constructing the Project.

Lower Yakima River Restoration: YBSA believes substantially increased water supplies are imperative for the future well-being of the environment and economy of the Yakima Basin. The lower 100 miles of the Yakima River presents many challenges concerning water quantity and quality, salmon production, and habitat restoration. This reach of the river is listed under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act for non-compliance with temperature and nutrient standards. This condition impairs the designated uses of this reach of the river for salmon spawning, rearing, and migration.

YBSA believes that opportunities currently exist to address these water quality conditions in the lower Yakima River. A collaborative partnership between the agriculture community, individual land owners, and Tribal, State and Federal agencies is needed to address the water problems. YBSA will initiate planning for a project between now and next fall. Specific projects may include restoration of riparian habitat, restoring flows in currently unused side channels, wetland restoration, and other types of projects that will address water quality deficiencies in the lower Yakima River. Our long-term vision is the restoration of the lower Yakima River with respect to salmon production and creating water quality conditions that meet Clean Water Act standards.

Public Scoping Meetings: The Bureau of Reclamation and Washington State Department of Ecology will conduct public scoping meetings for an Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (Integrated Plan), Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project (YRBWEP), combined planning report/programmatic environmental impact statement (PR/PEIS) for two days in May.

The schedule for both public meeting includes:
May 3: Hal Holmes Center, 209 N. Ruby Street, Ellensburg, WA
May 5: Yakima Area Arboretum, 1401 Arboretum Way, Yakima, WA

The combined open houses/scoping meetings will be held from 1:30-3:30 pm and 5:00-7:00 pm at both locations.

The scoping meetings will give the public and agencies the opportunity to identify issues and concerns associated with the proposed Integrated Plan and to identify other potential alternatives that could be considered in the EIS. In addition to comments received at the scoping meetings, written comments will be accepted through May 19, 2011. Please submit comments to Candace McKinley, Bureau of Reclamation, Environmental Program Manager, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 98901-2058, ((509) 575-5848, extension 232; or by email to yrbwep@usbr.gov, buy April 26, 2011. For additional information or questions, please call (509) 575-5848, ext. 613.

YBSA believes the water supply elements are inadequate for the following reasons:

 Climate change forecasts indicate a need for additional irrigation water to sustain future increases for crop consumptive use.
 Forecasts show increased drought frequency and magnitude. This will reduce the water supply available in summer months and carryover.
 Climate change will reduce snowpack storage and further reduce summer water supplies for crops and instream flows.
 Ground water supply problems are not adequately resolved by the package and could lead to ground water adjudication.
 The success of fish passage elements are severely compromised by inadequate volumes of water, which compromises smolt survival around the dams, and transit and production in the lower Yakima River.
 We believe that higher flow volumes in the lower Yakima River are required to improve water quality problems of temperature, phosphorus and other parameters.

YBSA believes the plan needs to address the following:

 The current plan has not been adequately analyzed for costs and benefits.
 The lack of financial analysis will inhibit political support. The public needs to know who is expected to pay and how much.
 There are a number of environmental concerns along with unpriced mitigation in the Plan for water storage, the list of those who openly oppose Bumping and Wymer is daunting, and with ESA, and other restrictive regulations, these two reservoirs will most likely never be built.

For additional information see www.ybsa.org