Publication Summary

In 2006, the Legislature tasked the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) to aggressively seek out new water supplies for both instream and out-of-stream uses. The same legislation set up the Columbia River Basin Development Account and authorized $200 million to fund it. Ecology created the Columbia River Basin Water Management Program (Program) to use these funds to develop new water supplies though storage, conservation, and voluntary regional water management agreements. This focus sheet provides details of the Program′s goals and progress.