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Department of Ecology News Release - August 30, 2007
07-250
YAKIMA - Efforts to measure how much water is being diverted from the Columbia River are meeting with success, with more than 80 percent of Mid-Columbia users agreeing to voluntarily report their water diversions, according to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology).
"Knowing how much water is being used can only help us as we face the challenges of managing water resources on the Columbia River," explained Dan Haller, Columbia River Unit Supervisor. "We're very pleased with the cooperation we're seeing among water users, and local conservation districts can take a lot of credit for that."
Ecology is seeking to measure 90 percent of surface and groundwater withdrawals within one mile of the Columbia River from Bonneville Dam north to the Canadian border and in the Lower Snake River below Lower Monumental Dam. The agency has allocated $1 million to assist water users with the cost of purchasing and installing metering systems.
Water users are being encouraged to voluntarily participate in a mandate from the state Legislature to report their water use. The Columbia River Basin Water Supply bill passed in 2006 requires total water use data from the Columbia River to be published on Ecology's interactive web map annually beginning in June 2009.
An early version of this web map was published this month on Ecology website that includes information on water rights in the Columbia River.
"By collecting and publishing water right and water use information in the Columbia River basin, we can make our planning and investment strategies for the Columbia more transparent to the public," Haller said.
In 2007, the agency has sought to gain metering information from the Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Columbia irrigators and other water users, accounting for an estimated 76 percent of the total withdrawals from the river.
Some 80 percent of water users contacted by local conservation districts agreed to participate in Ecology's program rather than receive formal compliance orders. Their withdrawals total approximately 19,450 cfs (cubic feet per seconds), with by far the largest withdrawal attributed to the Reclamation project.
Because of this initial success, Ecology has extended the deadline to Oct. 1, 2007, for the remaining 20 percent of water users in the Mid-Columbia to voluntary participate in the program. Water users should have received information on the program in the mail last spring. For more information, they may contact James Tennyson at Ecology at (509) 575-2024 or their local conservation district office.
"We really appreciate the help and cooperation among Columbia River water users to meet the metering goals set forth by the Legislature. It shows that the Columbia River program is a new way of partnering to meet common goals," Haller said.
In 2008, the program will be extended to water users from Priest Rapids to Wells Dam. And by 2009, the balance of water users, from Bonneville to McNary, and Wells Dam to the Canadian border, will be asked to report their water use to meet the 90 percent reporting goal.
Water measurement information will help the state to more accurately evaluate current water uses, and to forecast future water supply needs. In addition to publishing total water use information on its website, Ecology will report this information in a long-term water supply and demand forecast due to the Legislature in 2011 and updated every five years.
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Media contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, 509-575-2610
For more information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cwp/metering.html
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cwp/cwp_webmap.html .
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
