Anchorage, Alaska

1
CSG-WEST
Western Water Public Lands Committee
Water Management Strategies
to Address Demographic Growth in the West
Anchorage, Alaska
July 18, 2008
Presented by Evan Sheffels Special Assistant to
the Director for Water Washington State
Department of Ecology
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Presentation Overview

• Vehicle for water supply development Washington
  States Columbia River Management Program
• Methods for evaluating growth related demands
• Strategies for meeting demands

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Columbia River Basin Water Management Program

• 2006 Legislation
• Ecology directed to aggressively pursue
  development of new water supplies for both
  instream and out-of-stream uses
• Significant investment in new storage and
  conservation
• Capital authorization for bonds of up to 200
  million
• Operating 2.1 million and 15 FTEs
• 2/3 of funds for feasibility and construction of
  new storage
• 1/3 of new storage for improving streamflows to
  benefit fish
• 2/3 of new storage for new out-of-stream uses
• 1/3 of funds for conservation and all other water
  supply purposes
• Legislative reporting on project inventories and
  future water supply and demand

4
Columbia River Basin Legislation

• Ecology directed to aggressively pursue
  development of new water supplies for both
  instream and out-of-stream uses
• Significant investment in new storage and
  conservation
• Capital authorization for bonds of up to 200
  million
• Operating 2.1 million and 15 FTEs
• 2/3 of funds for feasibility and construction of
  new storage
• 1/3 of new storage for improving streamflows to
  benefit fish
• 2/3 of new storage for new out-of-stream uses
• 1/3 of funds for conservation for short-term
  improvement
• Legislative reporting on conservation and future
  water supply and demand

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Water Supply Development Account - Uses

• Assess, plan, and develop new storage
• Improve or alter existing storage facilities
• Implement conservation projects
• Any other actions to provide access to new water
  supplies (e.g. acquisitions, leases, marketing)

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Legislative Directives for Implementation Focus

• Alternatives to ground water for agricultural
  users in the Odessa subarea aquifer
• Sources of water supply for pending water right
  applications
• New uninterruptible supply for interruptible
  water rights
• New municipal, domestic, industrial and
  irrigation needs in basin (RCW 90.90.020(3))

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Columbia River Basin
Water Management Program Implementation
(Post-July 2006)

• Developed organizational framework
• Developed/staffed program
• Completed Programmatic SEPA EIS (February 2007)
• Initiated major projects
• Created grant program/initiated funding cycle
• Completed project inventory and first supply and
  demand forecast

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Legislative Reporting Requirements
S C O P E

• Columbia River Water Supply Inventory
• First report by November 15, 2006
• Annual inventory updates (RCW 90.90.040)
• Long-Term Water Supply Demand Forecast
• First report by November 15, 2006
• Updates every 5 years

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Why Do We Need Supply Demand Forecast?
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Future Demand

• Approximately 4,900 water rights in WA totaling
  about 8 million ac-ft per year on paper
• Current use may be lt 5 million ac-ft, but
  uncertain
• 79 Agricultural, 7 municipal
• Approximately 500 new applications in Washington
  (500,000 ac-ft)
• Odessa up to 570,000 ac-ft
• Approximately 550 water rights and applications
  in Oregon totaling 8 million ac-ft per year

Existing Washington water rights in the
Management Zone, excluding those for power and
reservoir water
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2011 Water Supply Demand Forecast

• Ecology plans to
• Study climate change (report due in 2009).
• Study emerging crop markets and agricultural
  demand (2009).
• Work with our fish partners to better understand
  how to use water supplies to meet instream
  demands (Lake Roosevelt SEIS, 2009).
• Work with DOH to better understand municipal
  demand and opportunities for conservation (2008).
  
• Work with Columbia River dam operators to better
  understand how storage affects power generation
  (2008-2009).
• Work with WDFW to update the priority stream
  reaches (2009).
• Implement a Columbia River Drought Insurance
  Program (2008).
• Recommend specific construction projects for
  funding (2008). Measure specific fish and
  out-of-stream benefits that accrue from
  conservation and storage projects. Provide that
  data on our webmap.

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Supply Strategies

• Storage
• Conservation
• Acquisitions

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Storage
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Columbia River Mainstem Off-Channel Storage
Additional sites under appraisal level evaluation

• Similkameen River
• Goose Lake
• Ninemile Flats

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Odessa Ground Water Replacement
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Lake Roosevelt Storage Release
Operational change of 1 foot annually and 1.8
feet during drought - MOU with Tribes, BoR,
Columbia Basin Irrigation Districts - 2004 -
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
studies completed Summer 2007 - Supplemental
EIS scoping December 2007 - Draft
Supplemental EIS completed May 2008 - Final
Supplemental EIS completed August 2008 -
Water right decisions Summer/Fall 2008
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Aquifer Storage
Recovery (ASR)

• City of Kennewick Pilot
• Yakima EIS State Alternatives
• 2008 Grant Cycle (5 x Feasibility)
• CSRIA VRA SAR Pilot
• Regional ASR Study

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Conservation

• On-farm (e.g., rill to center pivot, irrigation
  water management)
• Irrigation district level (e.g., piping lining)
• Municipal
• Wastewater reclamation

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Acquisition of Water

• Permanent Acquisitions
• Long-term leases
• Short-term leases
• Dry-year options

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Questions?