KID still plans to build huge reservoir. It may condemn Tri-Cities family farm

The Kennewick Irrigation District has purchased 330 acres spread across six parcels in Badger Canyon to build a large storage reservoir to reliably deliver irrigation water even during drought years.

But to acquire the remaining parcel for the project, the district’s board is considering condemning the Robert Cox family farm and buying it through the eminent domain process at fair market value.

About 120 people listened Wednesday night as the district answered dozens of questions about the project in an online open house rather than an in-person session because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In February members of the Robert Cox family and their friends and neighbors told the KID board they want to keep the farm. The farm owners have rejected KID offers to buy the land.

The board took no action at that meeting, but said it would hold an open house to explain the project to the public, but the meeting was delayed in the hopes that it could be held in person.

The 65-acre Cox farm, with four generations having worked or enjoyed the property, primarily grows pumpkins that supply Pacific Northwest stores from Alaska to Idaho each October. This year’s harvest was set to start this week, according to ads for seasonal workers.

The approximately 400-acre site picked by KID is similar in size to the Columbia River between the blue and cable bridges that link Kennewick and Pasco.

KID is proposing 4.5 billion gallons of water storage.

Need for reservoir

The reservoir would store water allotted to KID from the Yakima River that would be available for irrigating the district’s 12,000 acres of farmland and 8,200 acres of urban property when river flows are low during the heat of the summer and early fall.

During drought years, much of the water that KID uses comes from water that returns to the Yakima River between the Parker Gauge, downriver from Union Gap, downstream to the Prosser dam.

As conservation efforts continue by irrigators on that stretch of the river, return flows there will continue to diminish, which means less water for KID use from this source.

KID officials say the drought of 2015 made clear the need for the reservoir, which would be the first major one built in the Yakima Basin since Cle Elum Lake was constructed in 1933.

During the 2015 drought KID water use was strictly limited through watering schedules. There still were six times when there was so little water available that the supply to the community was shut off.

KID picked the land in Badger Canyon that includes the Cox farm as the rare site where the reservoir would be at the right height for gravity flow in and out, without the additional cost of pumping, and would be close to the main canal.

Without the Cox farm one possibility would be to build a smaller reservoir, said KID officials at the open house. But additional storage somewhere would still be needed.

Recreational use?

KID speakers said at the meeting that it has received several requests from people asking if the reservoir could be used for recreation in addition to water storage. It has made no plans on the appearance and access to the proposed reservoir, but will consider recreation use, speakers said.

People at the virtual meeting asked why the Zintel Canyon dam in Kennewick was not being considered.

KID officials said it was built for flood control and did not have significant storage capacity. The land is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has not been interested in allowing it to be developed into a storage reservoir, according to KID.

KID has contracted with Shannon Wilson, an engineering firm with an office in Kennewick, to continue the feasibility analysis performed by KID staff.

The firm will conduct a siting study, review staff documentation of the canal system grades and operations, help with technical groundwater analysis and other technical assistance needed to consider the Badger Canyon site.

Before any reservoir is built, a full environmental analysis would be needed.

KID will post all questions and comments from the open house on its website, along with a list of frequently asked questions and answers, but it may take a couple of weeks.

This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 10:19 AM.