Columbia Pump/Storage is the Solution

Black Rock is far from dead.  In fact, when all the talking is done, it may be the only answer to the water supply dilemma we face in the Yakima Basin.

However, your Yakima Basin Storage Alliance has shifted gears, and we need to tell you what is going on, and to ask for your continued support.  As you read this letter, I believe you will understand where we are and what needs to be done.

The $18 million study by the Bureau of Reclamation is complete, and it gave us both good news and bad news.  The good news is that a pumped-storage reservoir at Black Rock can be built, and surplus water is available from the Columbia River during high-flow months when electricity is cheap.  The bad news is that the BOR used an evaluation process that lists the 100 year cost of designing, building, maintaining and operating the Black Rock system, including interest….and they did not include, on the other side of the ledger, the benefit values from recreation, power generation (including wind integration), and up to a million salmon per year from the Yakima River.  The result is an unfortunately high cost number in the $7 billion range that frightens some folks, or gives them an excuse to say “No”.

So, the federal study recommends “no action”.  All of us at YBSA  believe our Basin cannot survive with no action as our climate changes to the worse, and drought years come closer together.

The State Department of Ecology (DOE) has advanced their own plan for water management in the Basin, and YBSA asked that all interested parties come together, look at all the studies that have been done through the years, and find an answer that works for everyone, both now and in the future.

The BOR and DOE have taken the lead and are now holding roundtable meetings every two weeks with  over 20 folks “at the table”, backed by a faithful audience. Most of the group represents government at some level, including irrigation districts, the Yakama Nation, fish agencies, and city and county officials. Your YBSA is the volunteer group involved, and American Rivers is represented by a professional staff person.

What is our role in this process?   We are the only folks at the table with “storage” as our middle name, and with volunteer depth that speaks for all Yakima Basin elements that reflect years of involvement, lots of studies, conservation efforts, water quantity and quality, and a concern for the future.

YBSA announced at the opening roundtable session that we would be fighting to meet the three congressional mandates; water for fish, for people, and for irrigation, and for satisfying these needs with the least-cost alternative. Since studies have a tendency to look only at the past, we are insisting that climate change projections be included.

Progress is incremental, but promising.  Bumping Lake expansion, now supported by the state DOE, has a “fatal flaw” according to a federal fish spokesman because of the Bull Trout listed under the Endangered Species Act.  The DOE’s version of storage at Wymer includes 44 miles of canal and 4 miles of tunnel to solve about 10 percent of the water supply shortage.

The talks continue, with YBSA pushing for a “scorecard” so that real numbers can be compared on water quantities, costs of different options, and the potential return on various investments.  We are also seeking a value for “non-use” fish that can be used on the benefit side of the ledger, which sounds strange, but the feds say “zero” and the state says “$888 million”, and BPA is paying $1 billion per year for salmon recovery, so, somewhere out there is an answer we can use.

We have successfully pushed climate change as an issue, and it is very much on everyone’s mind.  The potential of an inter-basin water exchange from the Columbia is still on the table, and may well be looking better. There is no telling where any of this might end up, but YBSA feels that we have stayed true to our original goal of water for everyone for the 21^st Century, and every day is a step closer to achieving that goal.

Water is our economic lifeline.  It is increasingly becoming a major issue in the courts and for the environmental community.  We have tools in our hands to fix the problem for the Yakima Basin…..and your help with a continuing contribution is vital.  Don’t let us down….YBSA won’t let you down.

Sincerely,

                         
Sid Morrison                            Charlie de La Chapelle

YBSA Press release 4/10/09 

Latest decisions, by Fed and State are positive steps to delivering a solution for water in the Yakima Basin. 

Last week the USBOR stated they would not issue their pending Record of Decision, just as YBSA and Yakima and Benton Counties asked them to do.  This last step in their just completed Storage study could have concluded our search for a solution with “No Action”.  That is clearly unacceptable.  The Washington State DOE is expected to issue their final report as their part in the EIS process, in May.  These steps conclude the process but do not give us the solution.  Both processes have key elements that must be integrated into a comprehensive plan that includes conservation, fish passage, habitat restoration and water storage to make it all work together.  Last week we were pleased to learn both State and Federal leaders have allocated money to put the parts together.  We have asked for this necessary step and are pleased to see it funded.  

This next step, working together for the benefit of all, will be difficult.  Representative Hastings, Senators Cantwell and Murray have told us: without agreement among the stakeholders, no project can proceed.  We are pleased to see our Counties, YN leadership, Irrigation districts, Basin Biologists, Federal and State governments rise to the occasion.  All options must be measured with the same measuring stick, and public hearings held to assure plenty of public education and input.  To succeed, this process must be open and include the key stakeholders and conclude with legislation within 12 months, we have no time to spare.   

YBSA remains committed to solving the problem for all interests in the basin, We also wish to thank Governor Gregoire and our State Legislators who remain staunch supporters of storage.  Accordingly YBSA has revised its position so that we can all work together to fashion the best solution for the Basin.  That means we will support the least cost alternative that meets the 3 criteria that congress set out in 2003; enough water for fish, irrigation, and our growing communities.   We know that a plan without adequate storage is no solution, and jeopardizes the other interests.

We are most grateful to our supporters who have endured this long and difficult journey because they and we know there is no more important and difficult issue which will determine our future for the next 100 years. 


For New Information About Black Rock go to Current Issues Link


SUPPORT THE RESTORATION OF THE YAKIMA RIVER BASIN

On behalf of the Yakima Basin Storage Alliance and its board of directors we are informing you of our draft legislation titled, Yakima Basin Environmental and Salmon Restoration Act. This draft bill provides for a comprehensive habitat restoration program in the floodplains of the Yakima and Naches Rivers and to re-establish ecosystem functions and fish passage at existing dams.

The Black Rock Water Exchange Project is for the purpose of
       (1) improving the Yakima Project water supply for the benefit of
            (A) the anadromous fishery of the Yakima and Columbia River basins
                  by means of stream flow enhancement in the mainstem Yakima and
                  Naches Rivers of the Yakima basin,
            (B) improving the reliability of the Yakima Project irrigation water supply
                  for junior water rights in dry years when water deficiencies occur, and
            (C) providing a surface water supply from the Yakima Project to meet
                  future municipal water needs; and
       (2) providing future recreation and hydropower generation opportunities.

We have enlisted the expertise of Dr. Jack Stanford to help determine the productivity potential of the Yakima River Basin. Dr. Stanford has stated there are no better sites in the lower 48 states for salmon restoration than then Yakima River. He maintains, if done correctly, with the exchange of Columbia River water, the Yakima River could support one million salmon. At YBSA we have worked tirelessly to bring more normative flow to the Yakima River. Our proposals could mean as much as 800,000 a/f more water left in the Yakima River and a reduction of excessive flows in reaches during irrigation season.

The Bureau of Reclamation study of Black Rock has concentrated on the feasibility of creating the reservoir and its operation. This draft legislation spells out and proposes the financing of the restoration of the environment of the Yakima Basin for fish production, helping meet Treaty Rights of the Yakama Nation by naturalizing river flows and mending habitat compromised over the past century.

Our past history of studying our water supply problems must come to a conclusion with construction of new water storage infrastructure. This draft proposal is offered to stop us of walking on the edges of disaster any longer but instead mutually provide a solution to the Yakima River Basin water shortage problem. We know that if at the conclusion of the BOR Storage Study we as a community do not agree on a solution, no significant action will occur. We will continue to fight the same battles as the past.

Both the Executive Summary and Draft Legislation are posted on our website

Sincerely yours,

Sid Morrison
Chairman Yakima Basin Storage Alliance

The links below pertain to the Environmental and Salmon Recovery Proposal

Executive Summary     Draft Legislation      Funding Proposal