News Release
October 28, 2011
Contacts:
- Brock Evans – Endangered Species Coalition. bevans_esc2004@yahoo.com
- David E. Ortman – Sierra Club. deortman@msn.com
- John Osborn – Sierra Club. john@waterplanet.ws
Conservationists to Congress and the Obama Administration: “Totally Opposed” to Two New Dams in Washington State’s Yakima Basin
Ending wasteful water use by agriculture is better for taxpayers, wildlife
Washington, D.C. – The Sierra Club on behalf of a broad coalition of state, local, and national conservation groups, delivered a strong message to Congress and the Obama Administration in meetings this week in the nation’s capital: conservationists will vigorously oppose two new dams proposed for the Yakima River Basin. The groups include Alpine Lakes Protection Society, California Water Impact Network, Endangered Species Coalition, Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs, North Cascades Conservation Council, Sierra Club’s Washington State Chapter, Western Lands Project, and Western Watersheds Project.
“While there could be some aspects of the proposal we might be able to support, we remain totally opposed to two new dams at Bumping and Wymer in the Yakima River Basin because of their enormously destructive impact on endangered species and ancient forests,” said Brock Evans, president of the Endangered Species Coalition.
On September 17 political leaders that included Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar, Reclamation Commissioner Michael Conner, and Governor Christine Gregoire helped to lead the celebration marking the removal of two dams on the Elwha River that flows from the Olympia National Park. The very next day, they reconvened in Yakima to discuss how to implement a proposed water plan that includes two new dams at Wymer and Bumping (adjacent to the William O. Douglas Wilderness).
“The draft EIS has not even been released for public comment, and the Bureau of Reclamation’s self-selected work group has already approved a $20 million fund request, with over $3 million for continued planning for new dams,” said David Ortman, a Sierra Club volunteer who has fought to protect the famous Bumping Ancient Forests for over three decades.
Conservationists highlighted the following points with Congress and the Obama Administration:
At least 170,000 acre feet of water is available through conservation, including investing in the water wasteful Wapato Irritation District operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Eliminating wasteful agricultural water use in the Yakima basin will significantly improve water supply. New dams - if ever built - should be the very last option.
In 2008 the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation rejected the new dam at Bumping Lake in part because of the overwhelming wildlife and ancient forest values.
Also in 2008 the Bureau rejected the Wymer dam (a “pump storage” project on a side-channel of the Yakima River) because of abysmal economics, also noting the area is shrub steppe habitat with important wildlife values.
Checkerboard lands in the Teanaway River (over 40,000 acres of private lands intermingling with National Forest lands) – should be purchased directly with Land and Water Conservation Funds or other funding source, and not as part of a deal with irrigators that sacrifices Bumping Ancient Forests and Wymer shrub steppe.
“We need affordable, common sense solutions to water scarcity problems, now and into the future,” said John Osborn, a Spokane physician who coordinates the Sierra Club’s Columbia River Future Project. “Fish passage at the Bureau’s dams on the Yakima River and strict water conservation for irrigators profiting from federal water are essential. We cannot afford costly new dams that will drown ancient forests and precious wildlife areas.”
Evans, who in his 50 years of conservation advocacy has hiked most trails in Washington State, has encountered many beautiful forests with big trees. “You may as well rip apart the Mona Lisa as destroy these ancient forests of giant,” Evans noted with emphasis. “There is simply nothing like the Bumping Ancient Forests. Anywhere. How ironic and tragic that one day the state celebrates dam removal on the Elwha River, and the very next day holds a love fest for destructive new dams in the Yakima.”
Links
Conservationists letter to Congress opposing new dams in the Yakima watershed
Photos – Bumping Ancient Forests
BuRec: rejects Bumping Lake Dam, 2008
BuRec: Shrub Steppe wildlife values at the proposed Wymer Dam
BuRec’s 2008 Dam Feasibility Study for the Yakima Basin
Yakima River Water Future (Sierra Club)