YBSA Monthly Report
January, 2012

Meeting with Dan Silver:  YBSA met with Dan Silver, consultant for Department of Ecology, at our January Board Meeting.  The reason he attended the meeting was to get YBSA to approve the Integrated Plan.  The Integrated Plan is completed so YBSA should come along and join the group as it moves forward.

Concerns with the Integrated Plan:  YBSA has presented written comments and oral to the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Ecology, and at the Work Group meeting during development of the Integrated Plan.  The lack of answers to the concerns listed in the documents leave many items in the Integrated Plan without justification.  Climate change, groundwater supply problems, low flow in the lower Yakima River, Introduction of Sockeye and the time of their return, the cost of each recommendation in the program, and an extended timeline in the plan to provide water storage which will lead to more frequent droughts and how they will be corrected have not been adequately addressed.

Public Records Act Request Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): YBSA joined with the North Cascades Conservation Council, the Sierra Club Columbia River Future Project and others requesting documents generated or received by Derek Sandison (DOE) and/or Dan Silver regarding the development of the Integrated Plan.  The communications may provide information on how, when, why, and where decisions were made on the contents of the Integrated Plan.

Draft Programmatic EIS:  YBSA supports elements of the Integrated Plan (IP) because it provides a short-term solution to the water supply problems of the Yakima Basin, while providing needed habitat improvements to help restore the Basin’s fisheries.  YBSA is, however, deeply concerned that the IP water storage element does not provide a sufficient long-term solution to the water supply needs of the Basin, especially in light of current State and Federal funding shortages, and the National need to integrate Northwest wind power.

To more effectively meet the state long-term needs for water storage and stabilization, YBSA urges an acceleration of the Columbia River Pumped Storage option identified in the IP.  In particular, YBSA believes that funding for a study of the Columbia Pumped Storage option should be made a priority of the IP, and that the study should include a pumped storage electricity production element.  The PEIS’s decision to make that option a mere aspiration does not adequately protect the Yakima Basin’s future, especially if the more severe climate change scenario considered in the IP come to pass.

Lower Yakima River

Letter to Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Council:  As I look back on a number of decades living in the Northwest, I find that our greatest failure in recent times is the inability to “think big”. We benefit from the big thinking that included the harnessing of the energy in the magnificent Columbia River system, and the coordinated efforts of governments at all levels to make it happen, with lineage that leads to the Bonneville Power Administration and, yes, to the Council on which you serve today

.

So, I appeal to you to join me in thinking big about the complexity of the world of electrical energy, wind, and water. It seems to me that we are stumbling all over ourselves and I want to share with you the possibilities of a win-win-win opportunity.

Climate change is bringing challenging new realities and opportunities to us. As much precipitation, or even more, than in years past, but coming at different times and in different forms, combined with a weak economy and a citizenry concerned with the threats of global warming, leave us suing each other and threatening the “northwest advantage” we have in energy and water supplies. The recent decision in favor of wind producers adds to the importance of what I am sharing with you as we search for answers that work for everyone.

As climate change reduces the manageable flows in the three-county area of the Yakima Basin, we need an inter-basin transfer of water from the surplus flows of the Columbia. I have shared with you before my belief that “we need to borrow some water from you when no one else needs it, and we will return it to you, in kind, with fish.” What is different now is that the mid-Columbia badly needs an energy storage facility, and studies show that it doesn’t pay its way if built just for that purpose. It is a money maker, and an equalizer, and a cushion against negative pricing, but only if the needed reservoir is supported by a wider range of benefits like those brought by the Yakima Basin’s need for consistent water for fish, agriculture, and municipal purposes.

Sid Morrison

Co-Chair, Yakima Basin Storage Alliance

YBSA Monthly Report
December, 2011
Comments on PEIS: The Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management
Plan Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Plan Draft PEIS is available at
http://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/yrbwep/index.html for your review and comment. The
comment period began on November 18, 2011 and continues through January 3, 2012.
IP Work Group Early Action Items: The Early Action items presented to the Integrated
Plan Work Group December 14, 2011 included a request for funding for habitat
improvements, fish passage, subordinate power diversion, watershed land conservationland
acquisition, a tunnel to remove inactive stored water from Lake Kachess, a pipeline
from Lake Keechelus to Lake Kachess, and a pilot project for groundwater infiltration in
the amount of $14.7 million with an additional $6.2 million to continue to study storage
projects Cle Elum Dam pool raise, Wymer Dam and Reservoir, and Bumping Lake
Enlargement which have been rejected over the last 20 years.
YRBWEP Title XII: Improvement in habitat in the main stream and tributaries, fish
passage, conservation projects, Lake Cle Elum pool raise, and subordinate power
diversions have been authorized since the 1994 YRBWEP Title XII for the Yakima River
Basin.
Habitat & Conservation Projects Funding: Funding for habitat and conservation projects
have been provided by the Bonneville Power Administration, Federal and State
Governments for many years since Title XII was authorized. Since 1994 numerous
droughts have occurred which have been detrimental to salmon recovery and agriculture
in the Yakima Basin but additional storage to reduce the effects of droughts have not
been provided. Stored water has been identified as a critical need by Congress, the State
of Washington, and locally here in the basin.
Funding Grants: The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board has just
awarded $585,813 for Kittitas County, $98,500 through a Yakama Nation Grant and
$508,887 to Yakima County ($1,193,200) for river improvement and habitat. Bonneville
Power Administration continues to provide funding for salmon recovery.
Inter-basin Water Transfer: A study of inter-basin transfer of water from the Columbia
River for use in the Yakima Basin is not included in the IP management plan until after
evaluation of the three storage projects: Bumping Lake enlargement, Wymer Dam, and
Kachess Reservoir Inactive Storage have proven unfeasible. The Yakima River Basin
Water Storage Feasibility Study an $18 million report includes information about the
inter-basin transfer of water and found that pumped storage would negate the effects of
droughts in the Yakima Basin.
Letter To NW Power Planning and Conservation Council: YBSA sent a letter to the
Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Council requesting they include in their
thinking the opportunity to blend wind, electrical energy, and water for fish and
agriculture with an inter-basin transfer of water from the surplus flows of the Columbia
River to the Yakima River. With climate change threatening the Yakima Basin an interbasin
transfer of water, a bucket for bucket exchange with the Columbia River would
provide the water needed for fish, agriculture, and municipal growth. Columbia River
water for irrigation on existing irrigated land would free up Yakima River water to create
the best tributary in the Columbia River system for salmon recovery.
YBSA wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.
For additional information see www.ybsa.org

YBSA Monthly Report
November, 2011
A Reliable Water Supply for the Yakima Basin: The Yakima River basin has a long
history of an inadequate water supply to meet competing water resource needs. Each
year we are faced with the need for an adequate snowpack to sustain and enhance our
anadromous fishery resources, provide water to irrigate our agricultural crops (a mainstay
of our economy), and meet municipal and domestic needs of our growing population.
We have attempted to address this matter through the Yakima River Basin Water
Enhancement Project and other programs focusing on conservation to reduce irrigation
diversions.
The Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project P.L. 103-434 Title XII was
authorized by Congress October 31, 1994, with amendments added later to the program.
The purpose was to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife through water
management; improve instream flows, improve water quality and habitat, authorize a
Basin conservation program, and improve the reliability of water supply for irrigation.
After ten plus years the Basin continues to experience frequent droughts. While progress
has been made we are nevertheless faced with the fact that additional water resource
infrastructure is necessary (particularly storage) if we are to assure a reliable water supply
for the future.
In 2003 Congress authorized the Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study
(Storage Study). The Omnibus Appropriation Act Public Law 108-7 directed the Bureau
of Reclamation (BOR) to examine the feasibility and acceptability of storage
augmentation for the benefit of fish, irrigation, and future municipal water supply for the
Yakima Basin. The Study found Bumping Lake enlargement, Wymer Reservoir, and
Columbia River exchange (storage) did not meet the cost benefit requirement, but
Columbia River storage met the requirement for benefits to fish, irrigation, and future
municipal water supply.
In June 2009, Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) and BOR hosted the
initial meeting of the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement 2009 Work Group.
Participants included the Yakama Nation, state, federal, county, and city governments, an
environmental organizations and irrigation districts. Since then the Work Group has been
working to craft an Integrated Water Resource Management Plan that will incorporate 3
components: habitat, system modification, and water supply in the Basin. In December
2009, a preliminary plan was published consisting of seven elements: fish passage at
existing Yakima Project reservoirs, fish habitat enhancements in the main-stem Yakima
River and tributaries, structural and operational changes of the existing water
infrastructure, surface storage, groundwater storage, enhanced water conservation, and
market based reallocation of water resources.
The Yakima Basin Storage Alliance is a Work Group participant and during this process
we have advocated a review of all storage projects to compare proposed water supply
projects and inform the public of the characteristics of each project. It has been and
remains our view that all viable projects, both those using in-basin water supplies and
those importing water from outside the basin such as the Columbia River should be
included. Rather the focus has been on projects storing Yakima Basin water (Bumping
Lake Enlargement and Wymer Dam and Reservoir) with any consideration of Columbia
River projects “falling within a possible second phase at a later date based upon
prevailing conditions”.
The inbasin water resources infrastructures in the Integrated Plan, if ever completed, are
not capable of consistently meeting aquatic resource demands in the Yakima River basin.
Climate change projections indicate there will be an increasing need for prorating and
reducing flows for fish. Pumping groundwater may reduce surface water flows in certain
areas due to hydraulic continuity between groundwater and surface water. The only
consistent source of new water for the Yakima basin is a 1 to 1 water exchange with the
Columbia River. A delay in pursuing pumped storage with wind integration for “a later
date” will place the Yakima River basin improvements for fish and the economy in the
same position as the basin water supply has been since Title XII was authorized. We will
continue to have water short years (droughts) more frequently and will not have a healthy
environment without a strong economy to pay for additional water storage for the
Yakima basin.
For additional information see www.ybsa.org

YBSA Monthly Report
October, 2011
Summary of the Yakima River Basin Groundwater Assessment Study: The United States
Department of the Interior U.S. Geologic Survey Team presented a summary of the Yakima
River Basin Groundwater Assessment Study. The Study was designed to fully describe the
groundwater flow system and its interaction with and relation to surface water. It also provides
baseline information for a management tool of the system.
The Study used information gathered back to 1901. The evaluation of the sedimentary deposits,
those aquifers above the basalt layers, in the 6 reaches of the Yakima River Basin were the most
important. An evaluation of river-aquifer exchanges was compiled for each reach. Groundwater
models were developed for the water period from 1960 and 2001 and are available online.
Groundwater usage in both the sedimentary and basalt layers was also evaluated.
The assessment found that sedimentary pumping reduces the flow of the Yakima River at
Richland, near the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia Rivers, by 140,000 a/f and an
addition of 40,000 a/f is reduced due to basalt pumping. The Study showed exempt wells reduce
the flow in the Yakima River by about 10 cfs (7150 a/f) which is reduced from 37 cfs (26450 a/f)
due to return flow to the sedimentary deposits.
It was pointed out that in the Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan the Wymer Storage Project
would provide 162,000 a/f of storage which is less than the water reduced by groundwater
pumping which was 180,000 a/f. If the existing 886 pending applications for new wells were
approved an additional 237,000 a/f water could have been withdrawn from the aquifers.
The Groundwater Assessment Study Teams consisted of USGS, USBR, Washington State
Department of Ecology, and the Yakama Nation. For more information on the USGS study go to
the Yakima Groundwater Project website at http://wa.water.usgs.gov/projects/yakimagrw/
Early Implementation Proposal: The Early Implementation Request (October, 2011) approved
by the YRBWE Workgroup consisted of:
1. Programmatic Actions, Operational Actions, and Small Infrastructure Projects in the
amount of $7.4 million.
2. Large Infrastructure Projects (Storage Projects) in the amount of $11.9 million for project
environmental review, permitting, and feasibility design. Interbasin transfer of water was
not included..
3. Groundwater Infiltration (Pilot Study) $1.6 million for a total request of $20.8 million.
The total cost of the Workgroup Plan is $4 to $5.8 billion.
PEIS Information: An update on the Programmatic EIS was provided to the Workgroup. A
PEIS evaluates the effects of broad proposals or planning-level decisions that may include any or
all of the following:
* A wide range of individual projects.
* Implementation over a long time frame; and/or
* Implementation across a large geographic area.
The Draft PEIS will be available in November, 2011 and a 45 day comment period will
commence. The Final PEIS will be completed in January, 2012. Two alternatives will be
presented, no action or the Integrate Plan with all 7 elements.
Climate Change: As reported in the Department of Ecology “Washington Environment 2010”
climate change poses a significant threat to our economy. Since we rely heavily on hydropower,
power generation is not as significant a source of “greenhouse gas” as in other states.
Pumped Storage/Wind Integration is an example of clean energy that produces power, creates
jobs, and provides water for fish and agriculture.
Climate Change Happens
ADJUST
Dinosaurs Didn’t
For additional information see www.ybsa.org

YBSA Monthly Report
September, 2011
Fair Booth: YBSA’s booth at the Central Washington State Fair displayed information about the Integrated
Water Resource Management Plan (IP) and a Pumped Storage/Wind Integration project (CRESP). See the
picture of the display which included materials explaining the IP and CRESP. Discussions were held with fair
goers mostly about the need for more water for the Yakima Basin and the cost to provide that water. Many
were interested in how pumped storage/wind integration creates a storage battery for electricity when the wind
doesn’t blow.
Bob Tuck at AFS: The 141st Annual Convention of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) was held at the
Washington Convention Center in Seattle. Major topics of interest included climate change impacts on fisheries
resources, status of sockeye restoration in the Okanogan River, and habitat restoration. Some of the
presentations dwelt with the Columbia River and tributaries, including the Yakima and Okanogan River.
Graphs and tables presented showed a shift from snow to rain, with peak runoff occurring several weeks earlier
as we progress further into the 21st Century. Some of the evidence indicates that we may not have a decrease in
total runoff in the Columbia Basin, but it will be earlier. Projections for both the Yakima and Okanogan Basin
indicate both an earlier runoff and decrease in total supply.
Several presentations dealt with sockeye migration and temperature; it is clear that sockeye do not move into
water with a temperature of 21 degrees Celsius or higher. They do not move from local areas of cool water, if
they exist. Several biologists familiar with Yakima Basin planning process and the Integrated Plan indicated
that they did not have a problem with the projected salmon numbers, but are highly dubious that significant
sockeye restoration will be successful without addressing water temperatures and habitat in the lower river.
They indicated that salmon restoration in the Yakima Basin will not be viable long-term unless water supplies
are increased to counter expected negative impacts of climate change.
Letter to Ken Salazar: YBSA sent a thank you letter to Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, for meeting in
Yakima to review and emphasize the need to address the Yakima Basin’s water supply problems. The letter
was also sent to Senator Cantwell, Congressman Hastings, and Governor Gregoire and YBSA included the
leadership from both legislative and executive branches of the Federal and State Governments.
YBSA fully supports the Yakima River Basin Integrated Management Plan and YBSA particularly emphasized
our support for pumped storage using water from the Columbia River with an interbasin transfer of water,
which will produce a reliable water supply that is necessary for returning salmonoids and is critical for
agriculture and municipal growth. Because of more frequent droughts due to climate change more storage is
needed for the Yakima Basin.
For additional information see www.ybsa.org