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CapitalPress.com
August 12, 2016
Washington
Washington water supply better
than expected, despite heat spikes
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Water sup-
ply in Washington is a whole
lot better than anticipated this
summer due to moderate tem-
peratures in June and July.
River and stream lows are
slightly below normal state-
wide but not at the extreme
lows of last year, says Jeff
Marti, drought coordinator for
the state Department of Ecol-
ogy in Olympia.
“Back in April and May
when we had record warm
temperatures and rapid snow-
melt, we thought we were
likely to see really low river
lows later in summer, but
thanks to moderate tempera-
tures and normal precipitation
in most of the state we hav-
en’t seen the deterioration of
conditions to the extent we
feared,” Marti said.
There have been hot days
but not lengthy heat waves
like last year, he said. That’s
important in keeping water
demand and river tempera-
tures down, he said.
As of Aug. 9, 31 percent of
the state’s rivers were below
normal low compared to 80
percent a year earlier during a
statewide drought, Marti said.
Last year, 34 percent of
rivers were at record lows on
Aug. 9. This year, just 2 per-
cent are, he said.
Those are the Upper Nook-
sack River in Whatcom Coun-
ty, the Satsop River in Grays
Harbor County and the Hoh
River in Jefferson County.
Last year’s drought caused
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
The Owyhee Reservoir, which
supplies irrigation water to
farmers like this wheat ield near
Ontario, Ore., could end the
season with as much as 160,000
acre-feet of carryover water.
Owyhee
could have
160,000
acre-feet
carryover
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Looking west up the Wenatchee River from Aplets Way Bridge, Cashmere, Wash., Aug. 10. Riverlows statewide are much better than
during last year’s drought. Nonetheless, some junior water rights were just curtailed on the Wenatchee.
millions of dollars of crop
losses due to irrigation restric-
tions, particularly in the Yaki-
ma and Kittitas basins were
junior water right holders
were at 47 percent of normal
supply.
The drought killed more
than 200,000 sockeye salmon
upriver of Bonneville Dam on
the Columbia River and 182
sturgeon between John Day
and Priest Rapids dams and in
the lower Willamette River in
Oregon, Marti said.
This season junior water
right holders in the Yakima
and Kittitas basins are at 90
percent of normal supply.
Irrigation districts can
manage well at that level, said
Chris Lynch, U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation hydrologist
overseeing the Yakima Basin
Project in Yakima.
Jim Willard, a Prosser
grape and apple grower and
board member of Roza Irri-
gation District, said the dis-
trict is operating with normal
water deliveries and foresees
making it to the end of the
season around Oct. 20 with no
reductions.
Last year, the Roza, prob-
ably the hardest hit irrigation
district in the state, cut water
to growers by up to 75 percent
and shutdown from May 11 to
31. It serves 72,000 acres of
farmland from Selah to Ben-
ton City.
“Everybody is pleased.
Life is a lot better than last
year,” Willard said.
Five mountain reservoirs
serving the Yakima Basin
were at 62 percent of capac-
ity on Aug. 9 which is about
98 percent of average for this
time of year, Lynch said.
“We’re hanging in there
pretty well,” he said.
The reservoirs store
1,065,400 acre feet of wa-
ter when full. They were at
658,040 on Aug. 9 and likely
will inish the season above
200,000 acre feet, Lynch said.
A lot depends on temperatures
and rain in September and Oc-
tober. Last year, the reservoirs
inished at 107,323 acre feet
on Oct. 27, the lowest since
the drought of 2005.
Rapid snowmelt this spring
caused water usage to be ter-
minated for about 600 junior
water right holders, individ-
uals not irrigation districts,
on the Walla Walla, Touchet,
upper Yakima, Okanogan,
Methow, Chehalis and Nook-
sack rivers. Also included
were the Little Spokane Basin
and Cow, Charmokane and
Harvey creeks all north of
Spokane.
In recent days, Ecology
sent curtailment letters to sev-
eral users on the Wenatchee
River and 14 users on Tucan-
non River and Asotin Creek in
southeast Washington.
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ONTARIO, Ore. — There
could be as much as 160,000
acre-feet of carryover water
left in the Owyhee Reservoir
when the 2016 irrigation sea-
son ends.
That’s less carryover water
than would be expected during
an average year but, due to ex-
tended drought conditions that
broke this winter, much more
than the reservoir has ended
the irrigation season with since
2012.
The reservoir provides wa-
ter to 118,000 acres of irrigated
farmland in Eastern Oregon
and part of southwestern Idaho.
“It feels a lot better,” than
the last several years, Owyhee
Irrigation District Manager
Jay Chamberlin said about
the 2016 water year. “I think
overall it’s going to be a good
season.”
In an average water year,
the Owyhee system will end
the season with about 350,000
to 400,000 acre-feet of water
that farmers can bank on for
the next year. During good
water years, that number is as
much as 500,000 acre-feet.
The reservoir can hold a
maximum of 710,000 acre-feet
of storage water for irrigators.
As of Aug. 9, there was
277,000 ace-feet of storage
water left in the reservoir and
about 3,000 acre-feet has been
leaving the system each day.
Chamberlin said that based
on current trends, there should
be more than 100,000 acre-feet
left at the end of the season.
“(That’s) still a long way
from normal, but when you’ve
come off those really, really
tough years that we’ve had,
that gives you a lot more hope
heading into next year,” he
said. “We’re going to be in a
lot better shape than we’ve
been in.”
OID board member and
farmer Bruce Corn estimates
there will be between 120,000
and 160,000 acre-feet of carry-
over water left.
OID patrons get 4 acre-feet
of water during a normal water
year, like 2016, but only re-
ceived a third of that amount in
2014 and 2015.
If there is around 150,000
feet of carryover water this
year, growers would have a lot
more breathing room heading
into next year than they have
enjoyed the past two years,
when the reservoir inished the
season with about 5,000 acre-
feet of carryover water.
“It gives you a little bit of
a cushion” heading into 2017,
Corn said. “Exactly how much
carryover water we will end up
with remains to be seen. But
certainly we should be over
100,000 acre-feet.”
Corn and Chamberlin said
it’s likely that irrigation water
will be shut off about the irst
of October, a couple weeks ear-
lier than normal, in an effort to
ensure as much carryover wa-
ter as possible.
The OID board will prob-
ably decide on a irm shutoff
date during its Aug. 23 meet-
ing, Corn said.
Most of the area’s high-wa-
ter crops are about two weeks
ahead of normal, Corn said,
which means September irri-
gation usage should be way
down.
“I’d be surprised if we go
past that” early October date,
Chamberlin said. “Our crops
are coming off early (and) I
think that will help and nobody
hopefully will come up short
on water.”