YBSA Monthly Report, July 2012
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
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 20th included:
- the status of funding for the projects identified as part of the early implementation program were;
- BOR funding: approximately $2 million for Lake Cle Elum fish passage andLakeKachesswater supply study.
- WSDOE: approximately $4 million for other early action items.
- 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:
- 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.
- The plan estimates an increase of 30,000 returning salmonoids and when the sockeye return the numbers may exceed 100,000.
- How will the sockeye be able to return to theYakima Riverin the late summer and fall when the river is at its lowest?
- 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
- 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
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.
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
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
YBSA Monthly Report February 2012
YBSA Monthly Report
February, 2012
YBSA Comments on Draft PEIS of the Integrated Plan: 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 stated 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.
The Purpose and Need statement in the PEIS demonstrates the urgent need for action to address water supply issues in the Yakima Basin, problems that will only grow worse as the Basin’s population grows and the effects of climate change alter the amount and timing of precipitation in the Basin
In particular, we note:
- Water supply is already a serious issue in theYakimaBasin. In dry years, proratable water rights holders already face substantial reductions in their water supply, placing the Basin’s agricultural economy at risk. As the PEIS correctly observes: “Demand for irrigation water significantly exceeds supply in dry and drought years, leading to severe prorationing for proratable, or junior, water rights holders.”
- Water rights in the Basin are fully subscribed, making it difficult for both municipalities and individual businesses and homeowners to obtain new water supplies for municipal uses. This places the Basin’s non-agricultural economy at risk. Ground water adjudication puts all Basin interests at risk by jeopardizing State, Federal and private investment in our needed infrastructure.
- As the PEIS notes, theYakimaBasinhistorically supported anadromous fish runs of somewhere between 300,000 and 950,000 fish annually. Habitat degradation over the last century has substantially reduced these numbers. (PEIS at 1-5 to 1-6). Low streamflows and high temperatures in certain reaches of theYakima, as well as excessive streamflows during certain times of year in other reaches, have contributed substantially to the decline of the Basin’s fisheries. By our calculations the IP further reduces flows in the lower 100 miles of theYakima River.
The Integrated Plan helps but does not fully meet the identified need for surface water supply, and fisheries benefits. Additional measures are needed in order to meet the need identified in the PEIS, the Integrated Plan by itself is likely to prove inadequate, especially in the long term. Conservation by itself is inadequate. The PEIS’s conclusion that additional water conservation measures, by themselves, cannot meet theYakimaBasin’s future needs.
The Columbia Basin Pumped Storage should be a priority. Initial screening should begin immediately. Electricity production and the use of wind energy to pump water provides a means of improving pumped storage economic viability.
- Identifying Additional Storage Options Immediately. A careful analysis of the PEIS reveals that water storage will be inadequate under the IP if any of the planned water storage options are, for any reason, derailed. It also reveals that if the more severe climate change scenarios emerge, the IP will be inadequate even if all storage options are built as planned
The Phase 1 project identified in the IP is likely to take years to complete. Accordingly, it is imprudent to wait for a crisis to emerge before thoroughly studying other options.
- Addressing the need for renewable energy integration. In the past decade, renewable energy (especially wind) has become a major economic force inCentral Washington, but the existing power system is rapidly running out of capacity to reliably integrate wind. This is a major barrier to continued regional investment in wind and other variable renewable technologies such as solar.
- Addressing adverse conditions in the lower Yakima. By shifting lowerYakima irrigation districts toColumbia water so that they do not need to withdraw from theYakima, the pumped storage option would substantially improve flows in the lowerYakima.
- Improved water storage. As noted above, by moving the lowerYakima irrigation districts away from dependence onYakima water, the pumped storage option can substantially improve the overall water supply picture in the Basin
Economic benefits of improved agricultural productivity are underestimated in the Integrated Plan.
YBSA believes many questions need to be answered prior to the approval of the Integrated Plan such as how would this plan eliminate future droughts that affect both the economy and the environment in theYakimaBasin.
Final PEIS and Integrated Plan for Yakima River Basin Published: The final programmatic environmental impact statement has been published in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 39, Tuesday, February 28, 2012. The Bureau of Reclamation will not make a decision on the proposed action until at least 30 days after filing the Final PEIS with the Environmental Protection Agency.
See the complete Integrated Plan information and YBSA’s comments on the Integrated Plan at www.ybsa.org
For additional information see www.ybsa.org
YBSA Monthly Report January, 2012
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
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
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
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
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