Enviros flash thumbs down on dams for storage

David Lester

Yakima Herald, October 28, 2011

Conservation groups are stepping up their opposition to two new dams in the Yakima River Basin.

A coalition of groups met last week with members of Congress from Washington and Oregon and a number of federal agencies to press their fight against expanding Bumping Lake Dam and constructing the Wymer reservoir in the Yakima River Canyon.

The groups cited impacts on endangered species and old-growth timber.

The two dams, which would add more than 320,000 acre-feet of storage in the basin, are proposed as part of an integrated plan to meet future water needs for farmers, fish and communities.

A group of local stakeholders favor the plan, which could cost as much as $5 billion.

The stakeholders, farmers, fish agencies, the Yakama Nation, local and state governments, and two environmental groups, have agreed to seek more than $20 million in state and federal funds this year as an initial down payment on the plan.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar expressed support for the plan during a visit to Yakima last month.

In addition to storage, the plan includes preserving critical habitat, fish passage at existing dams, water banking, aquifer storage, and enhanced water conservation.

The conservation groups said the money is being sought before a draft environmental impact statement is issued on the integrated plan. That document is due out early next month. The groups favor additional water conservation and fish passage as what they call affordable, common-sense solutions.

"We cannot afford costly new dams that will drown ancient forests and precious wildlife habitat," John Osborn of Spokane, coordinator for the Sierra Club Columbia River Future Project, said in a news release.

The groups meeting with the delegation and agency representatives included the Sierra Club, Alpine Lakes Protection Society, California Water Impact Network, Endangered Species Coalition, Western Lands Project, and Western Watersheds Project.