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Department of Ecology News Release - May 15, 2008
08-128
YAKIMA – The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has released a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) that analyzes options for additional allocations of water currently stored behind Grand Coulee Dam.
The draft SEIS evaluates numerous policy choices for determining who will receive the additional water and the timing of releases of that water from Lake Roosevelt.
The additional water is being made available through Washington State’s Columbia River Basin Water Management Program, authorized by the Legislature in 2006.
Ecology proposes releases that will increase stream flows in the Columbia River for fish, and provide water to the Odessa Subarea, and relief to irrigators whose waters may be interrupted during drought, as well as deliver new water to cities and farms.
“For the first time in many years we’ll be able to issue new water rights from the Columbia River and do so in a way that balances both the environmental and economic needs of the region,” said Derek Sandison, Ecology’s central regional director in Yakima.
The draft SEIS looks at three scenarios for releasing the water based on time of year, demand, and to maximize fish flows. In addition, the document considers policy options for who receives the water.
Under consideration are the impacts associated with releasing up to 132,500 acre feet of water from Lake Roosevelt based on a 1938 water storage right now held by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
According to the proposal, 82,500 acre-feet of water would be released from storage on an annual basis for the following purposes:
In drought years, 50,000 acre-feet of water would be released as follows:
The Draft SEIS for the proposed management program can be viewed online at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cwp/cr_lkroos.html.
Copies are available by contacting by calling (509) 454-7664.
Comments on the draft SEIS for the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Storage Releases Project will be accepted through June 30, 2008. Comments may be submitted in writing to:
Derek Sandison
Department of Ecology
15 West Yakima Ave. Suite 200
Yakima, WA 98902-3452
Or e-mailed to dsan461@ecy.wa.gov, please put: “Lake Roosevelt Draft SEIS Comments” in the subject line
In addition, comments can be given orally or in writing at open houses that will be held from 4-7 p.m. June 16 at the Coulee Dam Town Hall, 300 Lincoln Ave., Coulee Dam, Wash., and June 17 at the Colville Ag & Trade Center, 317 West Astor, Colville, Wash.
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Media Contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, 509- 575-2610; jred461@ecy.wa.gov
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
