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Quad Cities/Ecology Cooperative Agreement

The Agreement

On December 12, 2011, the Office of Columbia River entered into an agreement with City of Kennewick, City of Pasco, City of Richland, and City of West Richland (Quad Cities) to secure water for new domestic, municipal and industrial growth in the region.

Over 4,000 acre-feet of water from the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Storage Releases Project  will be delivered to the Quad Cities. The agreement ends a decade of legal disputes by resolving uncertainty in a 2003 settlement agreement.

Download or view the Ecology/Quad Cities Cooperative Agreement (2011 MOA)

Economic Benefits

Based on how municipal/industrial water has been allocated in the Quad Cities in the past, the additional water supply is expected to generate:

• 742 acres of residential domestic use, increasing the long-run tax base by over $485 million.
• 101 acres of commercial use, increasing the commercial long-run tax base by over $65 million.
• Over 6,500 jobs.

How economic benefits are calculated.

Documents

• Ecology/Quad Cities Cooperative Agreement (2011 MOA)
• Press Release: Ecology agreements secure water for Pasco, Kennewick, Richland, West Richland
• 2003 Settlement Agreement
• Quad Cities Water Right

Statutory Authority

Without the agreement, the Quad Cities permit is interruptible under the Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (commonly referred to as the BiOp).  RCW 90.90.020(3)(c) requires OCR to find "new uninterruptible supply of water for the holders of interruptible water rights on the Columbia river mainstem that are subject to instream flows or other mitigation conditions to protect stream flows..."