YBSA Monthly Report

January, 2013

 

Testimony on HB1196:  Yakima Basin Storage Alliance testified at the work session held by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on HB1196.

 

The Yakima Basin depends on the Yakima River for our economy, the environment and water needs. It’s difficult to support HB1196 as written because of the uncertainty of an adequate water supply for the Yakima Basin at a cost of $3 to $5 billion.

 

We support the concept but need to obtain more storage as soon as possible and all storage projects should be evaluated concurrently. If any of the proposed storage projects are not completed the Yakima River Basin will again be without sufficient water to meet its instream and out-of-stream needs.

 

The following is part of the presentation made by Yakima Basin Storage Alliance at the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee work session:

 

The Yakima Basin Storage Alliance (YBSA) is a local “grassroots organization” formed to raise the awareness of the dependence of our Yakima River Basin economy and environment on a reliable surface water supply and the needs for additional stored water. YBSA is in a unique position in the Workgroup not being affiliated with any specific entity, agency or interest group. YBSA is focused solely on the challenge of an adequate and reliable water supply for the future in concert with our environmental and cultural values.

 

YBSA supports the Integrated Plan concept, but we are deeply concerned with the adequacy and reliability of the surface storage element to meet long-term instream and out-of-stream water needs.

 

The Integrated Plan purports to restore sockeye salmon to the Yakima River Basin by providing fish passage to streams above the five Yakima Project storage dams inaccessible to adult spawning. Adult salmon are projected to range from 140,000 to 310,000 at the mouth of the Yakima River facing a summer in-basin migration of 150 to 215 miles upstream to the spawning grounds when peak irrigation diversions are occurring.

 

• How do we know the instream flows are sufficient      to improve water quality problems of temperature, phosphorous, and other      parameters critical to anadromous fish migration and reproduction? This is      particularly critical to adult sockeye and the effects of thermal blocks      in the river during the summer migration.

 

Three entities have the majority of the junior water rights and will participate in the dry-year supplemental irrigation water supply from the Integrated Plan. These are the Kittitas Reclamation District, Roza Irrigation District, and Wapato Irrigation Project on the Yakama Indian Reservation.  The water supply of these entities is significantly impacted in dry years when proration of the available irrigation is necessary. The Integrated Plan attempts to improve their junior supply to the extent needed to provide a 70 percent supply in dry years.

 

Recent climate change studies, however, indicate that watersheds like the Yakima River Basin dominated by fall rain and spring snowmelt will be most affected by climate change. To assess the impact on the Integrated Plan three climate scenarios were evaluated; less adverse, moderately adverse, and more adverse.

 

• How will the dry-year proratable irrigation      water needs of a 70 percent supply be met when operation studies show the      following for two of the three climate change scenarios: moderately      adverse scenario of 14 drought years our of 25 years with 70 percent      criteria violated in the every dry-year; and most adverse scenario of 24      dry years out of 25 years with the 70 percent criteria violated in 22 of      these years?
• What assurance do we have that after incurring      significant capital investments the conflict among instream uses with time      immemorial senior Treaty rights will not subordinate junior out-of-stream      rights in dry years?

 

One of the three projects of the water storage element is the construction of a new dam on the Bumping River about one-mile downstream of the existing dam. The numerous reports gathering dust in the bookcases of Reclamation offices are testimony to the failed efforts to bring an enlarged reservoir on-line since about 1950.

 

• In view of the long history of rejection of an      enlarged Bumping Lake Reservoir why do we insist on going down the same      path once again knowing full well the current opposition from some of the      environmental groups and others?
• How can we precede with construction of any of      the storage projects until the status of an enlarged Bumping Lake      Reservoir is known?
• Taking into consideration the above, why is the      assessment of an inter-basin transfer from the Columbia River which is a      potential option in the Integrated Plan “if conditions warrant” being      deferred? It seems prudent its viability and conjunctive operation be      determined prior to authorization of an Integrated Plan.

 

YBSA Monthly Report

December, 2012

 

Governor’s Budget Policy Brief:  Governor Chris Gregoire’s 2013 Budget Policy Brief-Managing Water in theYakimaBasin: The activities recommended for funding in the capital budget are:

Complete early action water supply projects ($20.9 million)

The Department of Ecology will restore main stem and tributary habitat, construct fish passage facilities, divert power to support salmon migration, increase Lake Cle Elum storage, pump water into reservoirs to improve in-stream flows, enlarge Bumping Lake, construct a pipeline to connect Lake Keechelus and Lake Kachess, modify the Lake Kachess reservoir and create a groundwater infiltration system.

Acquire water rights ($2.0 million)

The Department of Ecology will purchase existing senior water rights to provide seed water for establishing and operating basin water banks. Water banking is a mechanism used to facilitate legal transfer and market exchange of various types of surface, groundwater and storage entitlements. Setting up these banks will reduce barriers to completing water transfers and making water available for new uses.

Go to www.ybsa.org for full report and updated information.

YBSA wishes everyone a happy and prosperous New Year!

YBSA Monthly Report

November, 2012

 

Integrated Plan:  The Integrated Plan is a comprehensive program that includes seven elements and sustainable water resources for instream (salmon and steelhead) and out-of-stream (irrigation and municipal/domestic) water needs.  The seven elements consist of a surface water storage element and six complementary elements.

 

Not Enough Water for Yakima Basin:  The surface water storage elements may provide some additional water in the future but may not secure enough water in theYakimaBasin for the next 100 years.

 

Natural Resources Conservation Service Report:  The following report was published by the Natural Resources Conservation Service Washington Snow Survey Program:

 

WashingtonFall Weather Roundup and Winter Outlook for Water-Year 2013

 

After a never ending spring, summer finally arrived with a vengeance. What was dreary and drizzly turned seemingly instantly into hot and dry. Record dryness was achieved at a number of locations around the state this summer which led to an exhausting fire season for those folks charged with protecting out natural resources.  Reportedly “the fires won’t go out until it rains or snows” is the current mantra. Grouse CampSNOTELsite located in the NanumCreekBasinnear Ellensburg was caught in the TableMountainfire on September 19^th. See link for pictures:

ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/WA/Home/Snow/GROUSE%20CAMP%20SNOTEL.pdf

 

Even with rainfall totaling no more than 25% of normal during August & September (less in some locations) we still ended water-year 2012 at 108% of average statewide.

 

For the last two years we have been locked into the La Nina cycle which generally means cooler and wetter, both of which pretty much played out with above average mountain snowpack. But this year La Nina has collapsed and the tropical Pacific has warmed, leaning toward a more Enso neutral winter with tendencies toward an El Nino.

 

El Nino years tend to produce Northwest winters that are warmer than normal, drier than normal, with less than normal mountain snowpack and a lower probability of lowland snow. They tend to be less stormy here, with more of the action going intoCalifornia.

 

The latest Climate Prediction Center guidance shows both early and late winter predictions to be 30-40% dryer than normal however temperature forecasts could go either way which will be the deciding factor on mountain snowpack levels.

YBSA Monthly Report

October, 2012

 

Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan:  The following is a portion of the Executive Summary of the Integrated Plan:

 

The goals of the Integrated Plan are to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat; provide increased operational flexibility to manage instream flows to meet ecological objectives, and improve the reliability of the water supply for irrigation, municipal supply and domestic uses.  A Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) analyzing broad effects of the Integrated Plan on environmental resources was issued in 2012 (Reclamation and Ecology 2012d).

 

Funding for the projects that make up the Integrated Plan are expected to be cost shared among a wide range of partners.  Even though this Study utilizes traditional economic tools and analyses (Principles and Guidelines), the Integrated Plan is not intended to be funded as a typical Reclamation project.  It is anticipated that the State ofWashingtonwould continue to be a cost-share partner in funding implementation of many of the elements of the Integrated Plan, as well as local governments and other parties.  At this time, however, specific cost-sharing provisions between local, State, Federal governments, as well as other partners, have not been determined.

 

The Integrated Plan includes seven elements: 1) reservoir fish passage; 2) structural and operational changes to existing facilities; 3) surface water storage; 4) groundwater storage; 5) habitat/watershed protection and enhancement; 6) enhanced water conservation; and 7) market reallocation.  It addresses current water resource and habitat problems, while providing an adaptive management framework to address potential future changes in water needs or hydrology, including potential climate change effects.

 

Capital costs of the Integrated Plan are estimated to be between $3.2 and $5.4 billion, with a most probable cost estimate of approximately $4.2 billion, expressed in 2012 dollars.  These costs include permitting, design, environmental analyses, construction of infrastructure projects, implementation of programmatic activities, and environmental mitigation.  The range was developed using cost-risk assessment to consider uncertainty and risk factors for each of the six largest projects to generate probabilistic estimates of construction costs.  Additional costs of approximately $140 million are identified for interest during construction.  Annual Operations and Maintenance (O&M) costs are expected to be approximately $12 million in 2012 dollars once all projects and programs from the Integrated Plan are fully operational.

 

For the complete summary go to : http://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/yrbwep/2011integratedplan/plan/framework.pdf

 

Sockeye Salmon Run Biggest Ever by Jim Fossett:  If you cast aside the inconvenient fact that monitoring sockeye salmon runs is not an exact science and entertain talk around town it’s clear locals visiting Salmon La Sac Highway’s French Cabin Creek Bridge, Cooper Lake Bridge and Salmon La Sac Bridge are seeing more spawning salmon than ever before.

“We trucked-in 10,000 to Lake Cle Elum this summer,” said Yakama Nation fish passage biologist Brian Saluskin, “the largest load since 2009 when we started the program with 1,000 fish. That increased to 2,500 in 2010 and jumped to 4,100 in 2011.”

Saluskin pointed out a survey conducted last year revealed 3,400 females spawned along the river bottom above Lake Cle Elum. This year, a September report put the number at 1,500 and climbing.

“The brighter ones are fresh from the lake.  The darker ones, the ones that look more beat up, have been up river longer.  AtCooperBridgeyou’re going to see a lot of four-year-olds mixed with a few five-year-olds.”

The sockeye salmon run for next year is projected as very minimal, which would impact how many Saluskin and his crew can truck to Lake Cle Elum from Priest Rapids Dam on theColumbia River, where all the salmon he’s fetched for the program have come from.

We’re probably looking at 1,500 next year for trucking to the lake. But you know how predictions go. Everything could change.

As Saluskin noted, the spawning ritual provided an anomaly this year.

“We found sockeye nests in the shallows nearSpeelyiBeach.  Actually, beach –spawners are more prevalent inCanada. They clear off san to a depth where they reach cobble rock and then they cover up their eggs with whatever rock they’re able to use. Obviously, we ask people to leave them alone – alive or dead.”

With the first sockeye run returning from the Pacific in a couple years, the fish will need help.  Funding for the approved $81M Cle Elum Dam fish passage hasn’t yet materialized, but Saluskin said his team would be ready to trap and truck them over.

“We sill have hope for the passage,” he said. “As long as there is a demand for water in the valley, there’s hope.”

“There’s always been talk of increasing water storage a Lake Cle Elum. The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) is suggesting another three feet or so. If they do that, some kind of fish passage has to accompany the project.”

Saluskin said there has been a considerable investment of funds to get thelakeCleElum Dam fish passage through engineering design and environmental impact study phases.

“That represents a lot of work, so they’re not going to just let the project go by the wayside.”

At this writing, a tabletop model of the fish passage proposed for Lake Cle Elum Dam is undergoing rounds of tests in a tank inDenverunder supervision of BOR scientists and engineers.

“The next phase is to build a life-size model and put fish in it to see how they do,” said Saluskin, “and we’ve got another fish passage meeting on the calendar before the end of the year, so the project is still moving forward.”

 

Story was found in the Northern Kittitas County Tribune Cle Elum, Washington

Don’t Forget to Vote!

 

YBSA Monthly Report

September, 2012

 

H₂O For The Next 100 Years:  YBSA supports the Integrated Plan because it is the best vehicle to solve our long term water needs.  YBSA has been the only advocate for significantly increased water storage for the Integrated Plan.  Those reasons include instream flows, irrigation droughts, and climate change.

 

The Problems At Hand:

• The snow pack we depend on to sustain our current water supplies is receding each year.
• The current Integrated Plan does not include the estimated recession of the snow pack in its current capacity.
• The current plan calls for $5 billion dollars of your money to be spent on a plan that comes up short of water.

 

What To Expect If The ProposedPlanFallsShort Of Needed Storage:

• A devastating blow to the future of our sustainable resources that support our current economy.
• A massive decrease in jobs.
• The elimination of ability to substantially increase salmon recovery.
• An increase in water litigation.

 

Sockeye Salmon Runs:

• Inadequate water supply to sustain or enhance the life stages of the Sockeye Salmon.
• Temperature/Sockeye Timing – Sockeye passage can be delayed due to thermal blockage.
• Sockeye suffer pre-spawning stress due to this thermal blockage causing them to release their eggs downstream and reduce reproductive success.

 

Irrigation Drought Event:

• In the drought years 1992-1994 the irrigation level was as low as 37% of full supply.
• The frequency of severe drought is currently increasing.
• Banks delay refinancing depending on the snow pack report.
• Due to the increase in dry years and the lack of water to supplement the drought during these years it could mean devastating blows to our agriculture, fish, and economy in theYakimaRiver Basin.

 

Columbia River Water:  With time immemorial Treaty Rights of the Yakama Nation for in stream flows to sustain anadromous fisheries being senior to all other water rights, and with climate change having the potential to seriously affect the reliability of in-basin stored water supplies, we are faced with the reality that the Columbia River pump exchange is the only source of “new water” to supplement our over-appropriated Yakima River system.

 

Central Washington State Fair:  YBSA’s booth at the Central Washington State Fair asked the question, “Does the Integrated Plan, which was on display in the booth, provide water for the next 100 years?”  The display also provided information on the use of Columbia River water to fulfill the need in theYakimaBasin.  Water can be pumped during the time when electricity is generated by wind machines and not used.  The water would be used for irrigation purposes which would free up the stored water in theYakimaBasin for fish enhancement including fish ladders at the reservoirs and instream flows needed in the lower 100 miles of theYakima River for returning Sockeye.

 

Allocation for a Completed Integrated Plan:  Preliminary cost and allocation in percentages as presented at the September 26, 2012 Work Group meeting for a completed Integrated Plan are as follows.

• Total Cost $3.520 Billion
• Ecological Restoration 69.3%
• Agricultural Irrigation 20.7%
• M & D Supply 10.0%

 

YBSA Monthly Report

August, 2012

 

Why YBSA Believes More Water is Required for the Integrated Plan:  YBSA has been the only advocate for significantly increased water storage for the Integrated Plan (IP).  As such we are compelled to explain why.  Those reasons include Instream flows, Irrigation droughts, and Climate Change.

 

Instream Flows

 

YBSA believes the flows in the lowerYakima Riverwith the IP are inadequate to enhance and sustain the life stages of the andadromous fishery.

 

Fish production: The increase in fish production from the IP other than sockeye, is very modest given the level of investment.  If all the elements of the plan are implemented, annual runs would increase by less than 30,000 springs, summer and fall Chinook, coho, and steelhead.

 

Sockeye passage can be delayed due to thermal blockage greater than 69°.  In 2004 the river water at Prosser reached 70° F on June 18, and did not drop below 70° until September 5.  Temperatures exceeded 75° F from June 23 through August 24.

YBSA believes that even though significant conservation will increase instream flows, added volumes are needed to increase functionality, especially in the lower 100 miles of theYakima River.

 

Storage carryover is the second limiting factor for Sockeye production in the Basin.  Higher September reservoir carryover levels would significantly increase Yakima Basin Sockeye habitat and productivity.

 

Irrigation Drought Events.

 

The five major reservoirs of the Yakima Project with a total capacity of 1,045,000 acre-feet, store and release water for the purposes of irrigation, fish and wildlife, flood control, and recreation within theYakimaRiver Basin.

 

A “sixth reservoir” is snowpack in the higher elevations of theYakimaRiver Basin.

TheAcquavella Adjudication Courthas mandated that the rights of the Yakama Nation to instream flows for anadromous fishery are time immemorial and senior to all other water rights within theYakimaRiver Basin.

 

When the snowpack is low, our water storage is inadequate to supply our needs.  In other words the irrigation demand is met in the average and good years, but our carryover is insufficient for drought years in spite of large investments in conservation.

YBSA also believes supplemental irrigation wells, which are again junior water rights and subject to curtailment, are symptomatic of inadequate surface storage.

 

Reliability of the Water Supply for theYakimaBasin

 

Background

 

Beginning in 1995, following the passage of the Act of October 31, 1994 (Title XII), and the instream target flows at Sunnyside and Prosser dams, the total demand placed against the Total Water Supply Available (TWSA) in a normal water year was about 2.7 million acre/feet.

 

(see www.ybsa.org “Reliability of the Water Supply for theYakimaBasin” document

pages 1-4)

 

Climate Change

 

Studies by the University of Washington working with United State Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies using three climate change scenarios, less, moderately, and more adverse spring and summer runoff is expected to decrease (ranging from 12 to 71%) and fall and winter runoff is expected to increase (ranging from 4 to 74%).  The shift in runoff quantity and timing would cause significant risks to water supply.

(see www.ybsa.org “Reliability of the Water Supply for theYakimaBasin” document

pages 4-5)

 

Climate Change Impacts

 

Total Water Supply Available

Irrigation Proration Level

Insteam Flows

 

For the Integrated Plan without climate change there are four dry years (1993, 1994, 2001, and 2005).  With the climate change scenarios the number of dry years increases, the Total Water Supply Available decreases, and the 70 percent irrigation proration level criteria of the Integrated Plan may not be met in some years as follows:

• Less Adverse:  Seven dry years with the irrigation proration level at 70 percent for each year.
• Moderately Adverse:  Fourteen dry years and the 70 percent irrigation proration level criteria are violated in every year.
• More Adverse:  24 dry years and the 70 percent irrigation proration criteria is violated in 22 of these years.

 

(see www.ybsa.org “Reliability of the Water Supply for theYakimaBasin” document

pages 5-7; figures 1 & 2)

 

Carryover Storage and Reservoir Refill

 

Table 3 provides a summary of the number of years of the 25 year period (1981-2005) that the three major water storage projects of the IP refill to the indicated capacity.

 

(see www.ybsa.org “Reliability of the Water Supply for theYakimaBasin” document

page 8; figure 3)

 

Conclusion

 

The IP includes a future study of the potential for an interbasin transfer of Columbia River water as a source to meet water supply needs contingent on how theYakimaRiver Basin’s economy develops over time.

 

On the other hand, the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement indicates that “Reclamation and Ecology with the input from the Workgroup, determined that there was no reasonable certainty that a pump exchange project was environmentally or economically feasible at this time to meet the Purpose and Need”.  Consequently, the only water storage projects considered were Wymer Dam and Reservoir, Kachess Reservoir Inactive Storage, and Bumping Lake Enlargement.  Ironically these projects are being strongly promoted while their environmental and economic feasibility have yet to be determined.

 

With the time immemorial Treaty right of the Yakama Nation for instream flows to sustain anadromous fisheries being senior to all other water rights, and with climate change having the potential to seriously affect the reliability of in-basin stored water supplies, we are faced with the reality that a Columbia River pump exchange is the only source of “new water” to supplement our over-appropriated Yakima River system.

 

 

The following is an article about theYakimaRiver Basinfrom the Daily Record

 

http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/opinion/guest-column-yakima-plan-flawed-from-the-start/article_a2b2ebdc-e267-11e1-8bd0-001a4bcf887a.html?success=1#.UDcFgPQPN6E.email

 

See www.ybsa.org.

YBSA Monthly Report

July, 2012

 

YBSA Concerns with Integrated Plan:  Yakima Basin Storage Alliance (YBSA) continues to support the Integrated Plan (IP) but there exists water supply problems that have to be solved for the Plan to succeed.  Some of the concerns are

a)      Does the IP provide sufficient water to provide a minimum of 70% of the water needed by all the Irrigation Districts?

b)      How will the IP provide water to address the second and third years of a drought?

c)      With the return of additional salmonoids, especially sockeye, predicted in the plan, who will provide the water needed for their return?

d)      Climate changes will affect when runoff will occur. How will the flow be managed?

 

Meeting with Yakima County Commissioners:  During a meeting with the Yakima County Commissioners the concerns expressed were that the twenty to thirty year completion timeline of the IP does not provide the water that will be needed in the next decade.  The Columbia River pump exchange, a one to one water exchange with theYakima River, should be included in the early implementation plan.  Success of the IP depends on providing additional water in theYakimaBasin.

 

No Guarantee for Irrigation Districts:  At an Implementation Committee presentation it was stated that the water available in the IP does not guarantee water for proratable Irrigation Districts.

 

Discussions with Environmental Groups:  YBSA is having discussions with the Sierra Club and others to understand their concerns with the IP and how we can solve theYakimaBasin water problems.

 

Salmon Viewing:  Viewing of Salmon in the following rivers in theYakimaBasin will occur:

AmericanRiver– August 5 through 20

LittleNachesRiver– September 1 through 20

CleElumRiverbelow Dam – September 14 through October 6

aboveLakeCleElum – September 25 through October 15

Bob Tuck will provide information on site.  Please contact YBSA if you are interested in attending.  Email klarichcj@charter.net or phone (509) 854-1041

 

See www.ybsa.org.

YBSA Monthly Report

June, 2012

 

Integrated Plan Work Group:  Information that was provided for review and comment at the YRBWEP Work Group meeting on June 20^th included:

1. the status of funding for the projects identified as part of the early implementation program were;
1. BOR funding: approximately $2 million for Lake Cle Elum fish passage andLakeKachesswater supply study.
2. WSDOE: approximately $4 million for other early action items.
2. A detailed explanation of the account analysis of the Integrated Plan will include cost allocation, cost/risk analysis, and an economic evaluation.

 

Water Supply/Climate Change: In a report prepared by the Washington State Department of Ecology predicted that the effects of Climate Change and the need for growth will create a need for additional water in the Yakima Basin.  For additional information see Dave Lester’s article at http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/06/15/report-shows-climate-change-growth-will-strain-state-s-water-supply from theYakimaHeraldRepublic on June 15, 2012.

 

Meeting with Legislators:  At a meeting with legislators, YBSA discussed how the following concerns could be addressed:

1. The Integrated Plan storage element may not provide the amount of water needed for instream flow (fish and water quality) and out of stream (agriculture and future municipal growth) needs to address climate changes that were reported in the Department of Ecology climate study and consecutive drought years.
2. The plan estimates an increase of 30,000 returning salmonoids and when the sockeye return the numbers may exceed 100,000.
3. How will the sockeye be able to return to theYakima Riverin the late summer and fall when the river is at its lowest?
4. The Clean Water Act may list the lowerYakima Riveras needing improvement.

See article at http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/06/18/lots-of-fish-lots-of-toxins-officials-looking-to-change-that published in theYakimaHeraldRepublic on June 18, 2012

5. The Integrated Plan is a good program but only if there is enough new water to implement the plan.  YBSA supports the idea if the storage elements become a reality so there will be water to meet current and future needs.

 

See www.ybsa.org.

YBSA Monthly Report

May, 2012

 

Mitigation Needed for Approval of Wells in the Yakima Basin:  Given current water conditions in theYakimaRiver Basin, there is no water available for new water right permit applications to be approved for year-round consumptive uses unless the impact of the use can be offset, or mitigated.  The Department of Ecology is currently contacting water right applicants to determine the status of the water right request. Although still not a guarantee, it is likely that only new consumptive uses that can be mitigated will be approved.

Focus on mitigation in theYakimaBasinhas now been expanded from the upperKittitasCountyto include Moxee and Wide Hollow sub-basins.  The reason for not approving new wells was predicated on the loss of senior water rights.

 

The following link is to the editorial “Ecology takes prudent step as Valley awaits storage plan”

from theYakimaHeraldRepublicfrom May 31, 2012.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/05/30/ecology-takes-prudent-step-as-valley-awaits-storage-plan

 

 

BPA Pumped Storage Report at the Columbia River Policy Advisory Group Meeting:  Mark Jones, Manager of Federal Hydro Projects at the Bonneville Power Administration provided an overview of pumped storage for the region.  BPA and the region have experienced a dramatic increased in wind generation capacity.  This increase in capacity has posed a challenge for BPA to integrate the wind into the system and balance load generation.  BPA has added storage improvements toBanksLake and is considering a set of options including adding pumped storage to an existing federal facility, building a new federal facility, or partnering with a non-federal entity.  BPA recently contracted with HDR, Inc. to assess the characteristics and costs of potentialGreenfield (new) projects.  This assessment suggested that new storage capacity would cost between $2.5 and $2.7b, which is well beyond the value of the project.  With a multi-purpose facility, each part of the facility must return value, for example, the reservoir, irrigation, and power.  It is necessary to spread costs across multiple purpose uses.

 

 

Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan Article:  Below is an article by Dave Lester, reporter for the Yakima Herald Republic, that describes the proposed Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan being submitted to Congress.  It also points out the concerns that there will be insufficient water made available over the next several decades to address the needs for the future of theYakimaBasin.

 

Published in NWRA National Water Resources Association at http://www.nwra.org/content/articles/wa-yakima-river-basin-water-plan-released/ on March 16, 2012

 

Yakima River Basin Water Plan Released

 

By Dave Lester

FromYakimaHeraldRepublic

 

The preliminary rounds are over.  Now the real battle for support and money begins for a plan Gov. Chris Gregoire describes as one of the most significant ecological restoration projects in the West.  Federal and state officials rolled out a final environmental report Friday on a plan to meetYakimaRiver Basin’s future needs for more water storage, fish passage and land preservation.

 

A key element is the expansion ofBumpingLake, northwest ofYakima, that has been reviewed and rejected for decades.  The overall plan, more than two years in the making, could cost anywhere from $3.2 billion to $5.6 billion.  The first concrete steps to find the majority of that money from a Congress already strapped for money will come during the rest of this year.  Representatives of a broad-based group that developed the plan will head back toWashington,D.C., as early as April to begin laying the groundwork.  Gregoire said the investment is worth it.  “I urge that we move forward and implement this new program — the sooner we’re able to provide a constant source of water, the sooner our entire region will benefit.”

 

But any significant federal funding is considered unlikely until at least 2015.  The plan, proposed in phases over the next several decades, is designed to give farmers a more reliable water supply and open miles of habitat for fish above basin storage dams. Two species, bull trout and steelhead, are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.  In addition to endangered species concerns, the three-county basin has suffered through five economically damaging droughts in the last 20 years.

 

The lengthy environmental document issued Friday only looks at the effects of the overall program, concluding the seven-step plan is preferable to doing nothing. The document is now headed to the Environmental Protection Agency and the federal Office of Management and Budget. From there, it will move to Congress.  Individual parts of the plans would have to undergo environmental reviews on their own before they are authorized for funding.  Yakima County Commissioner Mike Leita, who serves on the committee making the trip to D.C., said getting projects on the ground is key to the future ofCentral Washington.  “Make no mistake about it, thisYakimaRiver Basinplays a significant role in our state’s economy and for endangered species recovery,” Leita said. “If this plan ultimately fails, the consequence of failure will be an economy and environment in considerable jeopardy.”

 

While this plan is ambitious, it also has gotten farther than previous plans, a myriad of which have been conducted here for decades without action.  The federal Yakima Irrigation Project, stretching from nearSnoqualmiePasstoRichland, caused the desert to bloom with hundreds of millions of dollars in crops. But the basin has been hamstrung by limited storage capacity and annual reliance on a healthy snowpack to provide irrigation water at a time when climate change suggests less snow in the future.  What is different about this plan is the support from the Yakama Indian Nation, a key basin player, and environmental groups. The plan also has drawn the interest of U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who visited the basin last fall. During his visit, he encouraged basin interests to submit a list of ideas that could be implemented in the near term.  A consortium of nine environmental groups support the plan’s inclusion of new dams, including a larger Bumping and the Wymer reservoir in the Yakima River Canyon, because the plan also contains protections for up to 70,000 acres of land in forest and shrub steppe habitat.

 

Michael Garrity ofSeattle, representing the conservation group American Rivers, served on the group that devised the plan. Also represented were the Yakamas, farmers, county and state governments and fishery agencies.  Garrity said the inclusion of land protection allows theYakimabasin to set a new standard for what a Western water project should look like.  “This plan recognizes the need to restore native fish and landscapes that help protect a healthy river,” Garrity said.  He added one significant benefit is the chance to make theYakima Riverthe largest producer of sockeye salmon in the lower 48 states, with an estimated 300,000 returning adults possible. Sockeye, a fish prized by native people, went extinct when the natural lakes in the Cascades were dammed in the early 1900s to store water for irrigation. The Yakamas have planted sockeye in Lake Cle Elum as part of a plan to test the ability to get fish out of the lake.

 

Among conservation groups backing the plan are the Washington Environmental Council, Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Wilderness Society.  Other groups like the Sierra Club oppose the storage element, preferring emphasis on water conservation and water banking to meet the basin’s needs. They plan to fight it.  Other groups also have questions about the plan’s ability to achieve its goal of assuring farmers a 70 percent supply of irrigation water.  Sid Morrison of Zillah, a former state legislator and congressman, heads a group called the Yakima Basin Storage Alliance that favors an interbasin transfer of water from theColumbia River.  The alliance is urging the use of wind integrated into the Northwest power grid to pump water into the basin. The benefit the group sees is that wind farm developers could invest private capital to make the plan a reality.  Studying an interbasin transfer is proposed, but only if other measures don’t satisfy the basin’s needs over the next 30 years.  “We like the plan, but we are frustrated over there not being enough water and now there is no money to go with it,” he said. “We increasingly have concerns that don’t seem to be answered.”

 

 

See www.ybsa.org.

YBSA Monthly Report
March, 2012

Work Group Meeting March 14th:
Derek Sandison reported:
Final PEIS did not review any specific project. The only comparison was between the Integrated Plan (IP) and no action. Conservation will provide very little more water for the basin. A Columbia River exchange is not considered in the plan.

Wendy Christensen reported:
An engineering study and the cost of each project will have to be completed

Funding Approved by BOR for 2012-2013
$700,000 Cle Elum Fish Passage
$950,000 YRBWEP Sunnyside Canal Improvement Project
$450,000 to study pipeline Keechelus to Kachess, Lake Kachess Inactive Storage, or Ground water Filtration

Possible Drought Could Continue for Decades: Delaying the possible review of an inter-basin transfer of water from the Columbia River to the Yakima Basin as listed in the IP would only occur after storage projects listed in Phase 1 fail. The water needed for the Yakima Basin will be delayed for more than 20 years while we wait for Phase 1 projects to be evaluated. The economy in the Yakima Basin will continue to be jeopardized as it has since the YRBWEP was adopted in 1994. Droughts will continue to occur until a plan that provides water needed for fish, agriculture, and municipal and industrial growth is approved.

YBSA Concerns – Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan: The IP is a comprehensive program that includes seven elements to provide reliable and sustainable water resources for instream (salmon and steelhead) and out-of-stream (irrigation and municipal and domestic) water needs. The seven elements consist of a surface water storage element (3) and six complementary elements; fish passage at existing Yakima Project reservoirs; structural and operational changes to the Yakima Project; groundwater storage; habitat/watershed protection and enhancement; enhanced water conservation; and market reallocation.

The estimated cost to implement the Integrated Plan ranges from $3.1 to $5.6 billion; annual operating costs are $10 million. Construction of the projects of the water storage element (Bumping Lake Enlargement, Wymer Dam and Reservoir, and securing use of the inactive storage space of Kachess Reservoir) is anticipated to be completed within seven to thirteen years after Congressional and State Legislative approval and funding.

Water Supply Question:
1. How do we know the instream flow water is enough to handle the five-fold increase in salmon and steelhead (85,000 to 490,000) expected to move upstream to spawn in the Yakima basin, that includes sockeye that have been reintroduced in Lake Cle Elum, and to provide the out-migration of smolts?
2. What assurance do we have of the reliability and sustainability of the water supply for out-of-stream uses in view of (a) the Treaty senior water rights of the Yakama Nation, and (b) the potential impact of climate change on precipitation and runoff?

Economic and Repayment Questions:
1. Does the Integrated Plan meet the Federal criteria for a favorable benefit to cost ratio?
2. What portion of the estimated total implementation costs are allocated to fish, irrigation, and municipal and domestic purposes?
3. What is the rate per acre-foot that will be required to pay for the irrigation and municipal and domestic water? What are the repayment terms?

Financial Questions:
1. How is the Integrated Plan of $3.1 to $5.6 billion to be financed in view of the current state of the Federal and State budgets and their revenue problems?
2. Integrating wind power into the NW system is a State and regional problem and a national priority. What is the opportunity for private investment in a joint water supply-pumped storage generation in this plan?

Environmental Question:
Why does Bumping Lake Enlargement continue to be promoted as a major storage project after almost 50 years of intense environmental opposition and no implementation?

For additional information see www.ybsa.org