Yakima Water Plan Heads for Trump's Desk
Capital Press
A land-use and natural resources bill that includes authorization of Phase III of the Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan passed the U.S. House, 363 to 62, on Feb. 26.
The bill passed the Senate on Feb. 12, so it now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.
“Our legislation authorizes the first 10 years of the 30-year Phase III and while there will be more work to do to appropriate necessary federal funds it builds on previous phases so that this project can continue to allow the Yakima Valley to flourish,” Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., a bill co-sponsor, wrote in a Feb. 16 newspaper opinion piece.
The 30-year, $4 billion plan is intended to boost habitat and water in the Yakima River Basin for fish while providing an additional 560,800 acre-feet of water through greater storage for irrigators. The goal is to provide junior water right holder 70 percent of supply in drought years.
The basin's annual agricultural economic value, farmgate and processed, is estimated at $3.5 billion.
Read the article here.