Selah Creek is part of integrated approach to water-storage issue

By MIKE LEITA
Yakima County Commissioner

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David Lester's Nov. 10 article about the Yakima County commissioners' proposal to consider bringing Columbia River water into Yakima County was accurate and balanced. My fellow commissioners, Kevin Bouchey and Rand Elliott, and I are writing to provide your readers more information about that proposal and the process in which the proposal has been made.

Time marches on. Populations grow. Climates vary. Economic models change. Agricultural products respond to new technologies, horticultural practices, processing enhancements, market preferences. Through it all, we depend on water as an essential driver of our health, societal stability, and economic well-being -- especially here in Yakima County, where our general economy is driven by the successes or failures of our agricultural sector.

Yakima County has the largest agricultural production of any county in Washington state. It depends heavily on the water supply provided by Cascade Mountain snowpack, the Naches and Yakima river systems and the irrigation infrastructure built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at the beginning of the last century.

Public agencies and agricultural interests have been working toward an enhanced Yakima River system and a more robust water supply for the last 30 years. Much has been accomplished on the environmental and conservation aspects. We understand that all of the amenities of riparian health, species habitat, fishery resource and aesthetic condition (to name a few) must be established and capitalized as a component of water supply. We have been and will continue to be an active participant in those efforts.

However, little has been accomplished in developing dependable and adequate water supplies within the entire Yakima River Basin. We were encouraged when the state Department of Ecology published its environmental document advocating an "integrated" approach that would include new water supply and storage facilities as a major component. Earlier this year, Yakima County joined the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project work group to define and implement the elements of that "integrated" approach.

The Selah Creek Pipeline and Reservoir proposal is a suggestion that will hopefully be analyzed as an important part of that integrated approach. Columbia River water delivered to the Roza Canal would replace water delivered to it now from the Yakima River system. This would free up at least 375,000 acre feet per year of Yakima River water. That water would become available to enhance in-stream flows and other agricultural users who have "pro-ratable" water supplies. The reservoir opportunity at Selah Creek would store enough water to deliver for full agriculture use, including July and August when Columbia River pumping is limited.

The Selah Creek proposal is only one of other solutions necessary to achieve a fully "integrated" long-range solution to our current Yakima River Basin water deficiencies. There is no time left for failure, nor can we accept second-best solutions. The time is now to achieve the best solutions for a fully "integrated" Yakima River Basin.

 



Commentsicon2
Posted by Nick at 11/21/09 05:09AM        Post ID#: #18796

Something has to be done, that's for sure. I wonder about the costs of pumping the water up over the hills from the Columbia, or is there enough elevation difference to get some help from gravity in a large siphon?

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Posted by ronz at 11/21/09 09:28AM        Post ID#: #18805

The commissioners' letter is long on opinions and short on facts. If "fish run enhancement" is to be part of the plan, BPA (Bonneville Power) should be a part of the decision-making body. They already spend over $700,000,000 annually on fish enhancement in the Columbia River drainage.
The costs of any such plan should be apportioned solely according to the benefits derived. Since fish enhancement and irrigation are obvious beneficiaries, why not tax them now to pay the upfront costs of your proposal?

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