Future of Yakima River Basin is at stake
David Lester
Yakima Herald, December 16, 2010
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Nothing less than the future of the Yakima River Basin is at stake today.
That's how state and federal officials and other participants frame the outcome of an 18-month effort to coax agreement from varied groups and agencies who have viewed one another with skepticism and mistrust for years.
And they are nervous it could come crashing down in what is being billed as decision day on an ambitious plan to balance the competing interests when it comes to water. The goal is a mix of new storage, habitat improvements for fish, water conservation, and a mechanism to buy and sell water.