KID embarks on building large-scale reservoir | Guest Opinion

Through the decades, Kennewick Irrigation District leadership has been working hard to secure water supply for the Tri-Cities community and protect our water rights.

Projects include: piping the smaller canals in Kennewick in the 1980’s; building neighborhood ponds — most recently the Cherry Creek Reservoir that was brought on line a few short years ago; ongoing projects of canal lining and modernization; and larger projects still being pursued, such as electrifying the Chandler Pumping Plant where KID’s water is pulled from the Yakima River.

KID has embarked on an opportunity to construct a large-scale reservoir not seen in the Yakima Basin since the 1930’s when the last large reservoir was constructed at Cle Elum Lake in 1933. That 1930s-era reservoir increased water storage in the Yakima Basin to 1 million acre-ft. in the over-appropriated Yakima Basin where water needs exceed 2.4 million acre-ft. every year.

KID’s Central Storage Reservoir has been part of our comprehensive planning efforts for the past several years to support present and future demands from our community.

The drought of 2015 drove home the need for additional storage within the KID system.

KID’s unique location in the lower Yakima Basin and our water service contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation allows KID to take all the water in the river at Prosser Dam above the federally mandated target flows up to our adjudicated water right limits.

But what happens if the water isn’t there? In 2015, when river flows were low starting in June, restrictions on water use were imposed on KID and this community.

As temperatures rose for extended days, which occurred six times in 2015, water supply for our community was further reduced to a point that there was not enough water to meet even reduced scheduling. Over six periods in 2015, water service to the community was shut off

KID is actively engaged in developing long-term water supply solutions that will provide a more dependable water supply to our Tri-Cities community.

One such solution presented itself in Badger Canyon and KID took preliminary action, securing 123 acres of land to locate a storage reservoir. The entire potential site is 400 acres, similar in size to the Columbia River between the Blue and Cable bridges. The Central Storage Reservoir Project is planned to store more than 12,000 acre-ft. of water that will be available to supplement our community’s needs when the river flows are not high enough during the heat of the summer and early fall.

This large scale reservoir project is meant to provide additional supply during drought years and will be filled using a range of options, from operational changes in a full water supply year to utilizing excess winter flows in the Yakima River above those needed for fish rearing and habitat.

The staff at KID has done an outstanding job in planning the Central Storage Project. KID will continue to evaluate available properties, including working with property owners in Badger Canyon to secure the remainder of the property that may be used for this transformative project. Our community is blessed to have the resources and talent to make this Central Storage Reservoir a reality.

KID will continue to work with our partners in the Basin and in the community to secure our community’s water supply far into the future.

This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 10:41 AM with the headline "KID embarks on building large-scale reservoir | Guest Opinion."