YBSA Monthly Report August, 2006
YBSA Monthly Report
August, 2006
The Roundtable on Salmon Restoration: The Roundtable on Salmon Restoration was a huge success thanks to Ted Strong. Phil Rigdon explained the need for a package of improvements to the Yakima Basin which would provide benefits to all resources instream and out. Those improvements included passage to those areas above existing storage reservoirs, more and better access to tributaries of the Yakima and Naches Rivers, and better access to side channels and the flood plain. The improvements along with increased flows in the Yakima River are necessary to benefit anadromos fish. Also, any new storage should include a specific allocation of water for fish management. Others emphasized Yakima Basin need to join together, meet and talk to each other and include all interested parties in those discussions.
Each year the snow pack has receded and will continue to over the next few decades according to the Climate Impacts Group of the University of Washington. The Yakima Basin will continue to have moisture mostly from rain. With more rain and less snowfall less water will be available from snow pack in the Cascades.
Other topics addressed included state water and salmon policy, employment opportunities in habitat restoration, endangered species, conservation, impacts on farming, ecosystem planning and the ecological health of the Yakima River.
The success of the Umatilla Project, which is a water exchange program between the Columbia and Umatilla River, was presented. When one bucket of water is taken from the Columbia River for out of stream use one bucket is returned to the Columbia from the Umatilla River. For nearly seventy years salmon were not present in the Umatilla River and now enough salmon have returned to provide fishing for both Indian and non-Indian fishers.
It was also suggested YBSA share our program beyond the Yakima Basin. The Black Rock Reservoir and other improvements could be used as a model for others.
Both Y-PAC TV and TVW recorded the conference. Y-PAC has shown the program numerous times and TVW’s program has been seen throughout the State of Washington on cable TV. The TV coverage created an awareness of how salmon recovery could occur in the Yakima Basin.
YBSA signed a contract with the Mitchell Nelson Group, LLC to perform a study on recreation and economic development analysis of lands around the proposed Black Rock Reservoir. The study will be completed in three phases: phase one, concept plan to be completed by September 15, 2006; phase two, market/financial/economic analyses to be completed by October 30, 2006; and phase three, master plan to be completed by December 30, 2006. The study is needed to show the benefits that could be derived from a body of water that was located at the Black Rock site. Information from the YBSA’s recreation study will be included in the Recreation Demand and User Preference Analysis being prepared by the BOR. The Recreation Demand and User Preference Analysis will be part of the Black Rock Study and used to develop the cost/benefit ratio of Black Rock.
Special thanks to the Port of Sunnyside for assisting in the financing, preparing the request for proposal, and organizing and hosting the meeting to interview and choose the consulting firm.
Information is also being gathered on the value of Black Rock as a power storage battery. The program would be to pump water from Priest Rapids to the Black Rock site. This would occur when there is an excess of electrical power. Water would be returned to the Columbia River to generate electricity when there is a shortage and need for additional electricity.
YBSA met with the BOR on August 7 for a report on the additional drilling that was completed around the Black Rock Dam site. The results showed there is not an unstable site for a dam. Construction of a dam at the site is OK and there should be no seepage along the abutment. Additional information on seepage will be provided by the Pacific Northwest Lab at Hanford. BOR also stated that Black Rock could provide 800,000 acre/feet for stream flow and Wymer would only hold 175,000 acre/feet.
YBSA organized a meeting with our consulting firm Mitchell Nelson Group, LLC and the firm the Bureau of Reclamation has employed to do the Recreation Demand and User Preference Analysis for the Black Rock study. The analysis being done by Mitchell Nelson will go beyond the survey done by the BOR and include the economic value and a conceptual development plan of potential development around the proposed Black Rock Reservoir. The BOR report will have gathered existing information from five rivers and seven reservoirs in the Yakima Basin and include it in the recreation report which should be completed by the end of September.
YBSA Executive and Finance Committees met and discussed the operation of the Central Washington Fair Booth. Volunteers will be needed in the booth to answer questions on the progress of the Black Rock Study.
YBSA has DVDs which were produced by Y-PAC of the Roundtable on Salmon Restoration. Please call 509-854-1941 or email klarichcj@charter.net if you’re interested in borrowing the DVDs.
Below is a link to some videos of the Roundtable on Salmon Recovery.
http://www.tvw.org/search/siteSearch.cfm?keywords=Yakima%20Basin%20Storage