YBSA Monthly Report July, 2013
YBSA Monthly Report
July, 2013
Legislation Signed: The State Legislature passed and the Governor signed legislation to begin implementation and a review of the Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan.
The timeline and actions include:
- 12/15/14 Initial cost estimate and financing plan provided to Governor and Legislature and updated by September 1 of every even-numbered year.
- 06/30/15 Department of Natural Resources must complete the transition post-acquisition management plan public process of lands purchased for watershed enhancement purpose.
- 12/01/15 Begin submittal of status reports to the Governor and Legislature begin and continue for every odd numbered year.
- 12/01/21 The status report to the Governor and Legislature must include a statement of progress in achieving the water supply permitting and funding milestone. If it appears the milestone cannot or may not be met, describe the strategy for resolving them, and if necessary recommend modifications to the milestones.
- 12/31/21 After this date and continuing periodically the state’s continuing support for the Integrated Plan shall be reevaluated if the actual funding provided through non-state sources is less than one-half of all costs and if funding from local project beneficiaries does not comprise a significant portion of the non-state sources.
- 06/30/25 After the water supply permit and funding milestone or June 30, 2025, whichever is sooner, the land purchased for watershed enhancement purposes must be disposed of as follows: If the “milestone” has been met the lands remain in the community forest trust and the transitional post-acquisition management plan must be converted to a permanent post-acquisition management plan. If the “milestone” has not been met, the Board of Natural Resources must decide between two designated options of dispositions.
WSU to Complete a Study: Section 5057 of the Capital Budget included $300,000 to Washington State University to complete a benefit-cost analysis of the Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan Projects:
- The Washington water research center is to prepare separate benefit-cost analyses for each of the projects proposed in the 2012 Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resources Management Plan (Yakima Integrated Plan).
- The Center must measure and report the economic benefits of each project on a disaggregated basis, so that it is clear the extent to which an individual project is expected to result in increases in fish populations, increases in the reliability of irrigation water during severe drought years, and improvements in municipal and domestic water supply.
- The center must submit the benefit-cost analyses, findings and any recommendations on the following projects by December 15, 2014, to appropriate legislative fiscal committees:
- Tributary/mainstem enhancements
- Box Canyon Creek
- Subordination of power generation (Roza and Chandler)
- Aquifer storage and recovery projects
- Agricultural conservation
- Municipal conservation
- Water bank exchange programs
- Cle Elum Reservoir
- Keechelus, Kachess, Tieton Reservoir
- Keechelus to Kachess pipeline
- Wymer Reservoir
- Bumping Reservoir Enlargement
Determine the Needed Flows in the Yakima River: There is still a need to determine the flows needed in the Yakima River under all conditions so the determination of who will get the needed water is not determined by the court like what has happened in the Klamath Basin.
Costs of Projects Need to be Determined: The cost of both construction and operating costs should be identified for each proposed storage project including cost of mitigation, and how the cost will be shared by the Federal Government, the State, Local Government, the people in the basin and the irrigators. Both construction and operation costs should be identified.
Go to www.ybsa.org for additional information.