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SPECIFICATIONS
The Black Rock concept is to pump water from the Columbia River, when it is available in excess of current fishery instream flow targets, for storage in a new offstream reservoir to be constructed in the Black Rock Valley. The large reservoir includes a fish-screened intake from Priest Rapids Lake, a 3,500-cfs pumping plant to lift water to Black Rock Valley, a 600-foot-high dam to store 1,600,000 acre-feet in a Black Rock reservoir, a 2,500-cfs reservoir outflow conveyance system, and power plants at the points of discharge to Roza and Sunnyside Canals. A reverse flow option from Black Rock Reservoir to Priest Rapids Lake will house a third power plant. The Yakima River water which is currently diverted to those canals would then be available to meet water supply needs in the Yakima Basin. The other Yakima Valley irrigators with junior proratable water rights, but not physically located to receive exchange water from the Black Rock Alternative, would receive a portion of the freed-up Yakima River water in dry years.
The Bureau of Reclamation’s Black Rock Appraisal Assessment and subsequent geologic investigations in 2006 concluded that, based on current information, a potential Black Rock Alternative appears to be technically viable and that a potential water exchange could meet the goals of the Storage Study.
Priest Rapids Plant
Pump Lift 1,400 feet
Black Rock central core rockfill embankment Dam
Crest Elevation 1785.0 feet
Structural Height 600 feet
Crest Width 40 feet
Black Rock Reservoir
Maximum Water Surface Elevation 1778.0 feet
Storage Capacity 1,600,000 acre-feet
Elevation Top of Active Storage 1775.0 feet
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