The majority of the Yakima Basin receives little precipitation, particularly in the summer months. Therefore the basin is dependent on water captured from snowmelt where water is stored in five major reservoirs and as groundwater.
In addition to its role as one of the most productive agricultural basins in the state, the limited water supply must also meet the needs of listed endangered fish species, the every day needs of the residents, commercial businesses and industrial users, provide recreational opportunities, and sustain non-listed fish and wildlife.
Auctioning Water Rights on Manastash Creek
WRC organized a reverse water rights auction, which was met with great success – in fact, it was the first successful reverse water rights auction in Washington State! The goal of the auction was to put an additional three cubic feet per second of water instream by allowing willing water right holders to auction a partial or whole water right. All water right holders in Manastash Creek with surface water rights confirmed by the Yakima Adjudication Court were invited to submit bids for the auction. The acquired water rights are being placed in the Department of Ecology’s Trust Water Rights Program, where they will be protected as instream flow in Manastash Creek. This success highlights the value of using innovative and market-based incentives for instream flow improvement. Washington Rivers Conservancy worked with the Manastash Creek Steering Committee, Yakama Nation, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Kittitas Conservation District and the Department of Ecology to hold the auction. Washington Rivers Conservancy is continuing to work with additional Manastash water right holders to protect additional water for instream flow in this important tributary.
Improving Flows on Cowiche Creek
Just outside of Yakima, WRC is partnering on a complex project with landowners who irrigate hundreds of acres of hay and pasture with water diverted from Cowiche Creek. During late summer and early fall, the creek has been chronically dewatered and, in some stretches, runs completely dry. To address this challenge, WRC is helping stakeholders substitute their current irrigation water from other sources. About 20 miles of Cowiche Creek will benefit from permanent flow increases of up to 7.9 cubic feet per second, a biologically significant boost of at least 100 percent during the peak irrigation season. This infusion of flow will restore passage for imperiled steelhead, spring chinook and coho, and provide spawning and rearing habitats that can once again function as part of a healthy stream corridor in the community.
