Washington State Department of Ecology

News Release

Department of Ecology News Release - Aug. 23, 2000

00-170

$400,000 grant award to further local water planning efforts

YAKIMA - A $400,000 grant award to be presented Thursday will bolster local efforts to develop a plan for managing water in the Yakima River basin.

The grant, awarded by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), will help the local planning unit as it enters its third year of work to meet the future water needs for the basin that encompasses all of Kittitas and Yakima counties and parts of Benton and Klickitat counties.

"Watershed planning is alive and well in the Yakima River Basin," said Jim Milton, executive director of the Tri-County Water Resource Agency. "Despite a few bumps in the road, citizens have stepped forward and given thousands of hours of volunteer time, working in the various technical committees to address water quantity, water quality and habitat issues."

Over the last two years, the Yakima planning unit has gathered data and assessed the needs of the basin and will now work to identify specific tasks that need to be accomplished to meet those needs. With the money, the planning unit hopes to fill gaps in information about the availability of ground and surface waters, the quality of water in many stream segments and the quality of fisheries habitat in the watershed.

"This check by itself won't fix local water woes," said Polly Zehm, Ecology's central regional director. "But with local involvement and local problem solving, watershed planning and watershed management can be successful."

The 1998 Washington legislature established a framework for watershed planning and provided money to help local groups pay for their efforts. This grant is part of $4.7 million earmarked for watershed planning statewide this year.

"As we enter this final phase of planning, we hope to hit the deck running this fall and will be looking for more involvement from the water community at large to help us implement a successful plan," said Dueane Calvin, co-chair of the Yakima planning unit and steering committee.

Contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, public information manager, (509) 575-2610

Editor's Note: The watershed planning grant check will be presented to the Tri-County Water Resource Agency and Yakima Planning Unit during a meeting of the board at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24, at the courthouse in Ellensburg.