No KID water for lawns and crops for up to 10 days in May
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- Kennewick Irrigation District is planning for a water outage.
- No water may be available for up to 10 days in May.
- Residential and ag water users will be updated before the start of the outage.
The Kennewick Irrigation District will not be able to supply water to customers for up to 10 days in May while repairs are made at the Chandler Pumping Plant.
Pumps that supply Yakima River water to the KID are expected to be offline starting Friday, May 8, it said Thursday.
Temperatures in the Tri-Cities could be as hot as 90 degrees next week, but KID officials are hopeful that temperatures could cool some during the water outage.
Some KID customers may be able to access water for a couple more days from KID water storage in ponds or in the main KID canal.
Other exceptions to water delivery are expected to be limited. KID customers can check the district’s water status map at bit.ly/3QWbtUl for the current status for their neighborhood or address throughout the outage.
Repairs are expected to be completed by Monday, May 18, with water service then restored as quickly as possible, according to KID.
The dates for the outage could change slightly before the shutdown.
Most KID water users were notified of the upcoming outage on Thursday afternoon, but some large agriculture growers were contacted in recent days.
The biggest concern is among cherry growers, said Matthew Berglund, KID spokesperson.
Irrigation water pump repair
Water is diverted from the Yakima River for KID users at the Prosser Dam and then travels about 12 miles to be the Chandler Power and Pumping Plant owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
The plant is needed to pump water up to the KID main canal.
One of the plant’s two pumps is out of service following problems discovered during routine maintenance. The remaining pump has been adequate to supply KID water users at the start of the irrigation season.
But as water demand increases later in May, two pumps will be needed, according to KID. A shutdown of the pumping plant is needed for the Bureau of Reclamation to do the repairs once needed parts are available, according to KID.
KID water already is expected to be limited this irrigation season because of an inadequate supply to meet all junior water rights because of a drought.
At the start of April, the Bureau of Reclamation expected to supply about 52% of the water KID is entitled to this season.
The start of prorationing for the Yakima River Basin has not been announced. But if it starts before or during the pump repair outage, KID may be allowed to deliver some water later in the season in exchange for water not delivered during the outage.
This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 5:31 PM.