KENNEWICK -- The water outlook has improved in the Yakima River Basin, but junior water rights holders will receive a smaller percentage this year, the Bureau of Reclamation said Monday.
The prorationing percentage for junior water right holders in the basin is expected to be 90 percent of their normal water supply from the start of prorationing until Sept. 30, up from 78 percent a month ago.
Senior water rights holders can expect a full water supply this year, reclamation said in releasing its June water forecast.
The Kennewick Irrigation District is a junior water rights holder, as is the Roza district.
KID said Monday that it is continuing to ask all rural and urban customers to water on an odd and even basis, and is asking neighborhoods to continue to work together by creating watering plans or by watering at different times throughout the day.
The start of prorationing and water entitlement amounts will be determined later in the year, according to reclamation.
Reclamation's water supply forecast is based on river flows, precipitation, snowpack and reservoir storage as of June 1, along with estimates of future precipitation.
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Irrigators plead with lawmakers for help
Irrigators plead with lawmakers for help
As much as 140,000 acres of farmland in the Mid-Columbia may go dry in less than a decade unless the state and federal governments take action, irrigation advocates said.
Officials from the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association trekked to Olympia this week to plead with the Legislature to approve $250 million in revenue bonds to extend surface water from the East-Low Canal east of Moses Lake to farm land currently drawing water from deep aquifers in which water levels are dropping.
"This is easily the most significant water issue the state can deal with in 2012," Darryll Olsen, the association's board representative, told the Herald.
Quad-cities water right pact reached
Quad-cities water right pact reached
State officials and the Tri-Cities and West Richland have reached an agreement on getting Pasco the water it needs now and the water the other cities will need in the future.
Officials say the new pact will put to rest a decade of disputes over the so-called quad-cities water right from the Columbia River.
The water rights from the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Release Program will be noninterruptible, which means that even when a drought is declared, the cities can continue to use that water, said Joye Redfield-Wilder, communication manager for the Department of Ecology in Yakima.
Quad-cities water right pact reached
Quad-cities water right pact reached
State officials and the Tri-Cities and West Richland have reached an agreement on getting Pasco the water it needs now and the water the other cities will need in the future.
Officials say the new pact will put to rest a decade of disputes over the
so-called quad-cities water right from the Columbia River.
The water rights from the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Release Program will be noninterruptible, which means that even when a drought is declared, the cities can continue to use that water, said Joye Redfield-Wilder, communication manager for the Department of Ecology in Yakima.
Forecast shows water demand to grow
Forecast shows water demand to grow
A new report from the Washington Department of Ecology should better consider job creation and other positive economic impacts that would come from increasing water use in the Columbia River basin, farmers and representatives of irrigation groups said at a Wednesday workshop in Richland.
The department is conducting three workshops this week to discuss the state's first comprehensive look at future water supply and demand in Eastern Washington.
Efforts to find new supplies for the arid, drought-prone region have been in the works for decades, in hopes of meeting increasing demand from farmers, industries and growing cities, and to improve stream conditions for threatened and endangered fish.
Plan to irrigate Odessa appears to be a winner
Plan to irrigate Odessa appears to be a winner
We have to admire the tenacity of the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association.
The group is a constant reminder to lawmakers in Olympia about the importance of a long-term strategy for continued irrigation water for thousands of acres in Eastern Washington.
More importantly, the irrigators don't just whine about the situation -- they actually come up with solutions.
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