Yakima water plan supporters ask Legislature to extend water storage deadline

Supporters of the Yakima Basin integrated plan want to extend a deadline for adding water storage outlined in legislation that established the Teanaway Community Forest more than a decade ago.

In 2013, the state spent about $100 million to purchase 50,000 acres of private land in the Cle Elum area to establish the Teanaway Community Forest. Under the original legislation, if permits and funding for 214,000 acre-feet of water aren’t in place by June 30 of this year, the state board of natural resources has the option to place the land into the common school trust.

The land purchase was part of a multi-pronged water deal that involves the state and federal government, the Yakama Nation, conservation groups, irrigators and municipalities in the region. The water plan calls for fish passage and tributary projects, water banks, water conservation and water storage.

Brandon Parsons of American Rivers said connecting the Teanaway forest and the water supply milestone was a “political calculus” to keep conservation organizations like his at the table.

“We’re at the table still,” he told the state House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday. “We need water supply and habitat conservation and they cannot be mutually exclusive.”

Storage options

The state Senate last month unanimously approved a bill extending the deadline another 10 years. At the House committee hearing, Urban Eberhart of the Kittitas Reclamation District said water plan supporters are making progress on water storage but need more time to get things in place.

He said the group expects to have a feasibility study completed on a water storage project at Springwood Ranch near Thorp within the next few years, and the project could come online in the next decade.

Water plan proponents also have called for more water storage at Bumping Lake and Lake Kachess. Those proposals have been controversial, with opposition from some environmental groups and homeowners.

Chris Maykut of Friends of Bumping Lake is among those who have raised concerns. He told the committee he doesn’t support any action that would harm the Teanaway Community Forest, but would like to see a performance audit on the Yakima plan before additional capital funding is provided. The return from the water storage projects won’t offset the huge cost, he said.

Larry Mattson, director of the Office of the Columbia River in the state Department of Ecology, said two storage projects were identified in earlier versions of the plan to meet the milestone. One, the Cle Elum pool raise, is expected to be completed by 2027. It will increase storage by 14,600 acre-feet, and benefit flows for fish in the Cle Elum and Yakima rivers.

The second, the Kachess drought relief pumping plant, is expected to add 200,000 acre-feet. That proposal is undergoing further river flow and refill analysis, he said.

Mattson said planning on the Springwood project is moving forward. It would have an estimated storage volume of 21,000 to 68,000 acre-feet, which could change based on the feasibility study, which began in 2023 and could take six years.

“Development of new water storage projects in the Yakima Basin has proven to be costly and challenging, and additional time is needed,” he told the committee.

A $1.1 million federal contract for environmental study on the Kachess plant was listed for elimination on the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency website. 

In response to a question from the Herald-Republic, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said Friday the contract was canceled because additional work is needed on the proposed Kachess action. The agency is working with the state Department of Ecology and the Roza Irrigation District to develop a new proposed action and clarify the alternative for the environmental process.

Teanaway

The state purchased the land in the Teanaway from the American Forest Land Co., and at one point a large resort community was proposed there. Today the Teanaway is a popular place for recreation, including camping, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, off-road vehicle use and fishing.

Phil Ridgon, natural resources superintendent for the Yakama Nation, said a number of fish restoration projects have been completed in the Teanaway, and establishing the community forest was a key part of gaining trust from local residents for the water plan.

“The Teanaway was special to us, it’s very important,” he said. “It’s a big part of what brought the plan together.”