This page aggregates current and historical information relating to Yakima River basin water management, water right changes and transfers, trust water right acquisition and management, and water banking.

Current Activities

Manastash Project
Manastash Project, Phase I Manastash Creek is an important Yakima River tributary, which drains a 100-square mile watershed in Kittitas County lying west of Ellensburg, Washington. Approximately 30 miles of potential high-quality salmonid habitat remains in the upper portions of the watershed, which lie primarily within the Wenatchee National Forest.

Yakima River Tributary Reverse Water Right Auction
The Washington Department of Ecology is seeking to buy or lease confirmed water rights in tributary streams in the Yakima River basin, beginning with the 2008 irrigation season. The reverse water-right auction program is part of Ecology’s efforts to enhance stream and tributary flows in the Yakima Basin.

Yakima Water Transfer Working Group
The Yakima Water Transfer Working Group (YWTWG) is a voluntary team of agencies and water users that meet to provide technical review of proposed water right transfers in the Yakima basin. The YWTWG process guides applicants to those types of water right changes and transfers that can quickly and easily gain approval from the state. Speed, certainty and convenience are important factors for drought year water right transfers.

Senate Bill 6861 - (Yakima Basin Cabin Owners Bill)
Hundreds of surface water users in the Yakima Basin are under court order to cease all water use, including their in-house use, during dry years. Many of the water users being told to shut off are camps and cabin owners, including both seasonal and permanent residences, that have been using surface water since the 1930’s or earlier.

Yakima River Basin Metering and Reporting
The Yakima County Superior Court has ordered, consistent with RCW 90.03.360, all water right owners with confirmed water rights in the Yakima River Basin to install an approved metering or measuring device at each confirmed surface water diversion point below 2,000 feet elevation by April 1, 2006. Those with confirmed rights with diversion points above 2,000 feet elevation shall have an approved metering or measuring device installed by April 1, 2007.

Acquavella Post-1905 Order Review
This page serves as a document repository for the participants in the ongoing review of the Court’s June 2004 order regarding curtailment of post-1905 water right during times of short water supply.

Water Banking in the Yakima River Basin
In early 2003, the Washington Department of Ecology initiated an effort to define the elements of a Yakima Basin water bank, reach basic understanding and acceptance of water banking as a tool and to determine what type of water banking has a good chance of success in the Yakima region. As a fundamental part of this effort Ecology involved Yakima water bank stakeholders in exploring these boundaries and opportunities.

Yakima River Basin Surface Water Adjudication - Final Decree Working Group
By Order dated October 23, 2006, Yakima County Superior Court authorized the establishment of a working group to address Final Decree issues for the Yakima River Basin Surface Water Adjudication. Publishing this information on Ecology’s website is part of the Final Decree Working Group process. Information regarding Final Decree Working Group activities will be periodically updated as it becomes available.

Yakima River Basin Ground Water - Surface Water Study
Includes: Estimates of Ground-Water Pumpage from the Yakima River Basin Aquifer System, Washington, 1960-2000 USGS Report: Hydrogeologic Framework of Sedimentary Deposits in Six Structural Basins, Yakima River Basin

Yakima River Basin Watershed Management Planning - Lower/Upper Yakima & Naches (WRIA 37/38/39)

Additional Information

Bureau of Reclamation-  Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study Upper Columbia Area Office
In May 2003 the Bureau of Reclamation initiated the Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study to examine the feasibility and acceptability of storage augmentation in the Yakima River basin.

Yakima River Basin - USGS
In cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Washington Department of Ecology, and the Yakama Indian Nation, the USGS is studying the ground-water system in the Yakima River Basin and how it interacts with rivers and streams in the basin. The study includes data collection, mapping of hydrogeologic units and ground-water levels, and a computer numerical model to bring together all the information.