Winter 2011 Water Seminar:
Managing water resources in the
Yakima Basin*
Made possible with support from
the Environmental Institute
at the College of the Environment
Prof. Joe Cook
Evans School of Public Affairs
Jan 4, 2011
The Yakima Basin
Counties: Kittitas, Yakima, and
(a little) Benton and Franklin
Cos.
Major Rivers: Yakima River,
Naches River, Tieton River
2
The Yakama Nation
• ~9000 members
• Confederation of 14 tribes and bands
• 1.2 million acres
• Headquarters in Toppenish
• Treaty of 1855 established current boundaries
of Nation, though traditional rights to hunt,
fish, and gather outside tribal boundary
• Boldt Decision (1974)
“Yakima Project” History
• Few non-native settlements prior to 1860.
• 1870’s – : Settlers (esp. in Kittitas valley ) begin
small-scale irrigation from streams and rivers
• 1889: Walter Granger organizes Yakima Canal
and Land Company; merges with Northern Pacific
Railroad; plans for Sunnyside Canal.
• 1891: Private irrigation ventures begin in Tieton
Canyon.
• 1892: 42 miles of Sunnyside Canal completed but
development halted in economic depression.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation History Project, Yakima Project, 1993
History (cont’d)
• 1900: Bond issues for both Sunnyside and Tieton
canals, water flows (appropriation), settlers
stream into valley
• 1904: River over-appropriated, shortages
threatened, use restrictions, growing hostilies
between irrigation companies
• 1902: Bureau of Reclamation formed under
Reclamation Act
• 1903: Yakima County petitions U.S. to consider
Yakima Valley for Reclamation project; BoR
chooses Yakima site over five other WA districts
History (cont’d)
• Early 1905: Engineers visit site; agreement for
U.S. to purchase existing canals of Sunnyside
and Tieton.
• May 9, 1905: U.S. (Bureau of Reclamation)
granted water rights by WA state to any
unappropriated water in Basin.
• December 1905: Final authorization for
Yakima project
Yakima Project
• Thirty years to complete
• Five reservoirs
Yakima – “teacup” diagram
http://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/yakima/yaktea.html
Yakima Project
• Thirty years to complete
• Five reservoirs
• Five “divisions”: Kittitas, Tieton, Sunnyside,
Roza and Kennewick
• Multi-purpose: Irrigation water supply,
municipal and industrial water supply,
instream flows for fish, flood control
Irrigation districts
• Can be private companies, sometime called
“ditch” companies (e.g. Cascade Irrigation
District).
• More often public districts, like fire districts, with
defined boundaries; can legally compel payment
(“assessments”) from anyone inside boundary to
provide for maintenance of irrigation
infrastructure.
• Controlled by an elected board of directors
• Landowners within district do not have water
rights themselves, the district “owns” the rights.
Major “federal” irrigation districts in
Yakima
• Sunnyside Valley ID
• Yakima-Tieton ID
• Wapato Irr. Project (mainly Yakama)
• Kittitas Reclamation District
• Roza ID
• Kennewick ID
From 2008 WSDA survey Tan = hay or timothy hay
Red = tree fruit
Yellow = grains, corn
Blue = CRP
Hatch = hops
Table A-1. Net Earnings per Acre-Foot, by Crop,
(4)a (5) (6)b
Net Farm Water Net Farm
Earnings demand Earnings
Crop ($/ac) (ac-ft/ac) ($/ac-ft)
Other
Vegetables $3,960 3.8 $1,050
Kittitas Valley Wine Grapes $1,730 3.5 $490
Apples $2,170 5.4 $400
Other Grain $1,430 3.5 $410
Hops $1,120 4.0 $280
Potatoes $940 4.8 $200
Concord
Grapes $520 3.7 $140
Yak-Tieton Miscellaneous $480 4.5 $110
Other Tree
Crops $480 5.7 $80
Sweet Corn $260 3.2 $80
Asparagus $360 4.7 $80
Mint $390 6.0 $70
Other Hay $220 5.4 $40
Sunnyside, Timothy Hay $140 5.6 $30
Wheat $90 3.8 $20
Roza, and Alfalfa Hay $1 5.2 $0.1
Wapato Pasture $(80)c 4.5 $(20)c
Source: ECONorthwest, with data from the PNW National
Laboratory; and from original data sources reported in HDR and
Anchor QEA. 2010. Water Needs for Out-of-Stream Uses.. Oct 13,
2010 memo
History (cont’d)
• 1930’s: Conflict over still scarce water
continues, water rights holders who preceded
the Bureau not getting allocations
• 1945: Consent Decree establishes current
(unique) hierarchy of water rights
Yakima water rights: a primer
May 10, 1905 “Junior” water rights - interruptible
and later z
“Proratable” water rights
y
May 9, 1905
“Senior”
“Non-proratable” water rights water
rights x
Pre -1905
x+ y = TWSA = Total Water Supply Available
z = supply shortfall
Note: relative sizes are not to scale.
y/(y+z) = % pro-rationing, shared equally
Yakima water rights (cont’d)
• Most water right entitlements controlled by
irrigation districts
• Some districts are entirely proratable (most notably
Kittitas RD, Roza ID, Kennewick ID, Wapato IP)
• Others have a portion of non-proratable rights and a
portion of proratable rights (Sunnyside and Yakima-
Tieton IDs)
• Water rights for Yakama Nation are federal
“reserved” rights, protected by 1855 treaty between
the sovereign nations.
Acquavella Adjudication
• Legal conflict continued…
• 1977: Ecology initiates general adjudication of
all streams in basin to confirm water rights
• Process still ongoing though vast majority of
rights have been confirmed by the Yakima
Superior Court
• Adjudications are long, painful and (in the
long run) helpful.
YRBWEP
• In response to adjudication, poor fish survival
and water supply shortages, Congress
authorizes Yakima Basin River Enhancement
Project (YRBWEP) feasibility study in 1979.
• Various elements, including fish screens,
conservation and water marketing happen
through the 1980’s and 90’s.
Black Rock
Priest Rapids Dam
Black Rock
• Yakima Basin Storage Alliance
• 2003 - Congress authorized USBR to conduct
“Storage Study”
– Purposes:
• Restore flow regime of Yakima and Naches River
• Improve reliability of Yakima Project (USBR) water
supply so that prorating no less than 70%
• Meet growth in municipal water supply
Black Rock
• Pump water from Columbia (in times when
flows exceed in-stream targets) from Priest
Rapids Lake into a new reservoir between the
Columbia and the Yakima
• Sometimes called “Columbia interchange”
option
Black Rock
• New reservoir could store 800,000 to 1.3 million af
• Water released into Yakima city and lower irrigation
districts; in exchange, they would stop diverting from
Yakima River (so-called “exchange water”). Would “free
up” between 525,000 (in dry years) and 869,000 acre
feet in Yakima River
• Junior proratables upstream (not in IDs that directly get
water) would be allowed to divert some of the freed-up
Yakima river water
• Municipal supply of ~30,000 acre feet (in dry years only)
• A small hydropower generating station at outlet, and one
flowing back to Priest Rapids
Drawbacks
• Area of high earthquake potential, landslides
• Seepage into aquifer; the Hanford site
• Harm fisheries in Columbia and Hanford
Reach?
• Lost hydropower potential for Columbia dams
• Benefit-cost analysis unfavorable, project
shelved
The birth of a new acronym
• YRBWEP process becomes “Integrated Water
Resource Management Plan”, or IWRMP
• Integrated package to put to Congress
– Enhanced conservation (line irrigation canals, switch
to more efficient irr. systems, municipal conservation)
– Reservoir management changes, K-K pipeline
– Fish passage in upper reaches
– Aquifer storage and recovery
– Increased water marketing
– New “in basin” storage (Wymer Reservoir) and
enlargement of Bumping Reservoir
Groundwater in the Kittitas valley
• Rapid residential development in the 1980’s
and 1990’s.
• Concern that groundwater withdrawals from
“exempt” wells are jeopardizing surface water
rights’ holders ability to get their legal
allocation.
“Exempt” wells
• 5,000 gallons per day for domestic use
• 5,000 gallons per day for industrial use (includes
commercial irrigation)
• Unlimited water for irrigation of ½ acre of lawn or
non-commercial garden (waste not allowed)
• Unlimited water for stockwatering (drinking
water only)
• But all wells need construction permit (so we
know where they are)
Groundwater in Kittitas Valley
• Leads to major USGS groundwater modeling
study
• (Acquavella is a stream adjudication, not a
conjunctive one with both surface and
groundwater)
• As USGS results come in, Ecology puts an
emergency moratorium on all new “exempt”
wells in upper Kittitas Valley (July 2009).
Course policy & schedule for the
quarter
• (website)