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CapitalPress.com
April 24, 2015
Drought
Water managers respond to Yakima Basin drought
Reservoirs tapped early; irrigation districts cut supply
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
The drought has taken
hold in Washington state’s
Yakima Basin, with federal
mangers tapping reservoirs
much earlier than usual and
one irrigation district re-
stricting water supplies.
“We’re just hoping for
rain right now. Give us some
rain. That will improve the
situation,” the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation’s Yakima
River operations supervisor,
Chuck Garner, said.
The bureau forecast
Tuesday that Yakima-area
growers with junior water
rights will receive 54 per-
cent of their normal sup-
plies. Growers with senior
water rights are expected to
receive 100 percent of their
supplies.
The outlook has been
worsening
since
early
March, when the bureau es-
timated junior-right holders
would receive 73 percent
of their normal supplies.
Low-elevation snow is
gone, and precipitation at
the basin’s five major reser-
voirs has been one-third of
average so far in April.
With the natural Yaki-
ma River flow far below
normal, the bureau began
drawing from the reservoirs
on April 15, 10 weeks earli-
er than normal.
Garner said it’s proba-
bly the earliest the bureau
has started spending down
water stored over the win-
ter since the severe 1977
drought.
On Tuesday, water was
trickling into the reservoirs
about half as fast as normal,
according to the bureau.
Meanwhile, water was be-
ing released almost twice as
fast as usual.
The reservoirs are 99
percent full and hold more
than 1 million acre-feet, a
robust figure for this time of
year. But with the early start
to the drawdown, the bureau
projects that by the end of
the September, the reser-
voirs will hold only 110,000
acre-feet, compared to the
usual 320,000 acre-feet.
That would leave little
water held over for the bu-
reau to build on for the 2016
irrigation season.
The Roza Irrigation Dis-
trict, which has 72,000 acres
to water, responded Monday
by cutting water supplies to
1.8 gallons per minute, in-
stead of the usual amount
of roughly 7.5 gallons per
minute.
“It’s a significant re-
duction, to the point where
some growers will have
trouble with their pumps,”
the district’s manager,
Scott Revell, said.
The district’s board may
have a special meeting next
week to discuss whether to
pursue potentially expen-
sive water from senior right
holders in the Sunnyside
Valley Irrigation District.
The district has set aside
$3.5 million to lease water
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Chris Sandvig, dam tender for Kittitas Reclamation District, looks west
from Lake Easton Dam. It’s where the district’s irrigation canal starts.
There’s plenty of water now but probably won’t be by mid-summer.
in drought years. The dis-
trict must decide wheth-
er to invest funds now, or
hold back to guard against
the possibility of an even
worse water shortage in
2016. Revell called the 54
percent supply figure “right
on the decision-making
line.”
Also, the district is
watching to see what state
lawmakers do. During the
2005 drought, the state
and Roza split 50-50 the
cost of leasing water. The
Washington Department of
Ecology has requested $4
million for leasing water in
the Yakima Basin, but state
lawmakers have not com-
mitted the money.
The Kittitas Reclama-
tion District has a different
strategy for coping with
the drought. Manager Ken
Hasbrouck said the district
plans to keep water flow-
ing at nearly normal levels
through May to protect hay,
the district’s “moneymak-
er.”
After that, water sup-
plies will be ramped down,
he said. Usually, the dis-
trict provides water until
Oct. 15. During the 2005
drought, water was gone by
Aug. 5.
This year? “Right now, I
would hate to even suggest
a date,” Hasbrouck said.
He also said it’s hard
to forecast economic loss.
Growers who suffer a water
shortage may need a year
or two to get their land and
livestock back in shape, he
said.
The bureau’s water sup-
ply forecast assumes pre-
cipitation going forward
will be 80 percent of nor-
mal.
“I’m really hoping that
54 number we’re working
with is a number that stays
in place,” Hasbrouck said.
“Let it rain, and I’ll be hap-
py.”
Ruling forces California
water districts to review rates
By BRIAN MELLEY
AND FENIT NIRAPPIL
Associated Press
Idaho well users owe large
surface call obligation
Capital Press
Southern Idaho groundwa-
ter irrigators now face their
largest obligation in the 10-
year history of the Surface
Water Coalition’s delivery
call and fear they may fall
short in their efforts to pro-
vide mitigation.
Coalition members —
American Falls Reservoir
District No. 2, Twin Falls
Canal Co., A&B Irrigation
District, Burley Irrigation
District, Milner Irrigation
District, Minidoka Irrigation
District and North Side Ca-
nal Co. — say springs that
supplement surface flows in
Snake River reaches between
Blackfoot and Milner Dam
have declined as a result of
well irrigation.
Idaho Department of Wa-
ter Resources Director Gary
Spackman recently ordered
the groundwater users to pro-
vide 89,000 acre-feet of water
by May 1 to offset injuries to
AFRD No. 2 and Twin Falls
Canal Co.
Absent a sudden shift to-
ward wetter weather nullify-
ing the debt, any shortfall in
mitigating for the full amount
would result in curtailment of
well users with the most ju-
nior water rights.
Lynn Tominaga, executive
director for Idaho Ground
Water Appropriators Inc.,
said he’s been out “begging
for water” and has found lit-
tle.
“It’s very doubtful we’ll
get to 89,000 acre-feet,” Tom-
inaga said.
Tominaga believes the
obligation is excessive, con-
tending the water outlook
was bleaker in 2010, when
IGWA owed just 84,000 acre-
feet. That year, wet summer
weather arrived, and IGWA’s
$1.3 million water investment
went to waste.
Furthermore,
Tomina-
ga questions the Bureau of
Reclamation’s allocation of
100,000 acre-feet of water
to augment flows for salmon
health this season, as per an
agreement with the Nez Perce
Tribe. Tominaga noted salm-
on flow augmentation height-
ens competition for storage
water.
IDWR Deputy Director
Mat Weaver said the 100,000
acre-feet was on the border-
line of being necessary, and
no augmentation would have
been required under Reclama-
tion’s formula had the agen-
cy’s water supply forecast
been just 1 percent lower.
As for the discrepancy
with 2010, Weaver explained
IDWR has implemented a
new methodology to calculate
diminishing reach gains, in
compliance with a court order.
Another policy change
this season allows Spackman
to revisit the water supply in
mid-season and further in-
crease IGWA’s obligation, if
necessary.
“I think the day is coming
where groundwater pumpers
may have to do what surface
irrigators have had to do for
years and do some things to
preserve their water. That
probably means crop se-
lection and better manage-
ment,” said Stan Hawkins, a
member of the Upper Snake
River Basin’s Committee of
Nine, representing the Great
Feeder Canal Co. “In a year
like this, we’ve got lots of
canals that I represent that
simply cannot count on hav-
ing enough water to raise a
crop of corn or a crop of po-
tatoes.”
17-1/#4X
violate the ruling.
Huntington Beach, for ex-
ample, had been considering
adding tiered water rates for
years, but didn’t know how to
figure out what would be legal
until the ruling came out, said
Public Works Director Travis
Hopkins.
The Crescenta Valley Water
District was meeting Tuesday
night and was expected to dis-
cuss the ruling’s impact on its
four-tier pricing and future rate
hikes, said attorney Thomas
Bunn.
“This is going to force a
number of districts to re-exam-
ine their tiered rates and make
sure they’re justified,” Bunn
said.
Two-thirds of water districts
use some form of tiered water
pricing. The ruling which is only
binding in Orange County but
could be cited in legal filings
throughout the state, does not
make tiered pricing illegal, but
agencies or cities have to show
price hikes are directly tied to the
cost of the water, the court said.
Noting that Santa Barbara
is reviving a desalination plant,
Justice William Bedsworth
wrote that providing water
during a drought is pricey and
nothing in the voter-approved
ballot measure prevents water
agencies from passing those
costs on to users.
“That would seem like a
good idea,” he wrote.
San Juan Capistrano charged
nearly four times as much per
unit of water for users in the
highest tier to provide an in-
centive to conserve, but failed
to show that the water was that
expensive to deliver. Residents
complained the higher rates
were arbitrary and unfair.
Nearby Santa Margari-
ta Water District watched the
case closely and updated its
increased tiered rates in March
that carefully documented the
link between costs and rates in
a 120-page analysis, spokesman
Jonathan Volzke said.
Attorney Benjamin Benu-
mof, who brought the lawsuit
against San Juan Capistrano and
has suits pending against Sweet-
water Authority in San Diego
County and Glendale Water and
Power, said he thinks there are a
lot places where rates are out of
line with the court order.
Drought declared in 2 more Oregon counties
SALEM (AP) — Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown has declared
drought emergencies in two
rop-6-26-5/#17
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Brian Melley/Associated Press
This Sunday, April 19, 2015 photo shows Kris Widger mountain
biking through dry vegetation in the Santa Monica Mountains in the
Topanga area of Los Angeles. An appeals court Tuesday struck
down a water pricing scheme meant to conserve water.
more counties — Baker and
Wheeler — due to drought, low
snowpack levels and low water
conditions.
The governor’s action Mon-
day brings to seven the number
of counties where the state has
declared a drought emergency
so far this year. The other coun-
ties are Crook, Harney, Klamath,
Malheur and Lake. In 2014, a
total of nine counties were under
drought emergencies.
The counties asked the state
to take action, and the Oregon
Drought Council considered the
requests by weighing current
water conditions, future fore-
casts and agricultural impacts.
Drought continues to have sig-
nificant impacts on agriculture,
livestock and natural resources in
each of the counties.
The governor’s declaration
allows increased flexibility in
how water is managed to ensure
that limited supplies are used as
efficiently as possible. Brown
is also working with Oregon’s
federal delegation, state agencies
and local governments to address
drought issues.
LEGAL
LEGAL
PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder,
on 4/28/2015. The sale will be
held at 10:00 am by
CERTIFIED AUTO REPAIR
2880 22ND ST SE, SALEM, OR
2007 Chevrolet 3500 Van
VIN=1GAHG39U071203764
Amount due on lien $1,090.00
Reputed owner(s)
Gregory Garrett
Westlake Financial Svcs
James Schneider
PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 819
Notice is hereby given that the
following vehicle will be sold,
for cash to the highest bidder,
on 4/28/2015. The sale will be
held at 10:00 am by
PRECISION TOWING &
RECOVERY IN
7575 3RD STREET SE, TURNER, OR
2008 GMC Sierra
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Amount due on lien $4,105.00
Reputed owner(s)
Merle McClure
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Citizens Auto Finance Legal-16-2-2/#4
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John O’Connell/Capital Press
Pasture is irrigated in Firth, Idaho, with a snowcapped mountain in the backdrop. Below-average
snowpack, an early start to the irrigation season and a poor outlook for natural river flows have led to
an 89,000 acre foot obligation for groundwater users in the Surface Water Coalition water call.
LOS ANGELES — An ap-
peals court decision striking
down punitive water pricing that
was intended to encourage con-
servation had water agencies re-
viewing rates Tuesday and some
residents exploring whether to
bring similar challenges.
The ruling Monday that
found San Juan Capistrano’s
water rates unconstitutional
came amid a severe drought as
agencies try to meet the gover-
nor’s mandate to cut water use
statewide by 25 percent.
The 4th District Court of Ap-
peal said charging heavy users
incrementally more per gallon
without showing it cost more
violated a 1996 voter-approved
law that prohibits government
agencies from overcharging for
services.
The decision that Gov. Jerry
Brown said puts a “straitjacket”
on local government makes it
harder for cities to adopt simi-
lar billings and may bring down
some of the higher rates, said
Ken Baerenklau, an associate
professor at the University of
California, Riverside who has
studied tiered water rates.
Water departments are being
pulled in different directions by
Brown’s administration that de-
manded hitting residents in the
pocketbook to save water and
the legal uncertainty of charging
guzzlers higher rates.
“If you have courts telling
you one thing and governor tell-
ing you something else, maybe
that’s a reason to sit tight,” he
said.
Water districts were careful-
ly going over the ruling to figure
out if their rates were in jeopar-
dy or how they could develop
a pricing scheme that would
encourage conservation but not