News Release
November 23, 2011
Contacts:
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•Brock Evans – Endangered Species Coalition. bevans_esc2004@yahoo.com
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•David E. Ortman – Sierra Club. deortman@msn.com
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•John Osborn – Sierra Club. john@waterplanet.ws
$5 Billion Yakima water proposal needs more time for public review and comment
Holiday rush for water projects draws request to slow down
Spokane - Today a coalition of national, regional, state and local conservation organizations sent a strongly worded request to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation requesting an extension of time to comment on the recently released $5 billion proposed plan for managing water in the Yakima River basin. The Bureau released its draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on November 16, ends the public comment period on January 3rd, and plans to issue its final decision as early as the end of January. Groups are requesting that the federal agency extend the public-comment deadline from January 3rd to March 3rd.
The groups are Endangered Species Coalition, Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs, Kittitas Audubon Society, Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society, The Mazamas, The Mountaineers, Seattle Audubon Society, Sierra Club Washington State Chapter, Western Lands Project, Western Watersheds Project, and Wild Fish Conservancy.
"The Yakima River, wildlife habitats, ancient forests, and salmon runs are too important to rush through over the holidays," said Brock Evans, of the Environmental Species Coalition based in Washington, D.C.. "Public resources and funding are at stake and the public deserves time to comment on the environmental impacts on the Yakima River, salmon, ancient forests, and how we are going to pay the $5 billion price tag.”
The “Work Group” process for developing the current proposal has drawn criticism from its start nearly two years ago. The Bureau of Reclamation and the Washington Department of Ecology -- agency partners in many eastern Washington water project proposals -- excluded most of the region's conservation groups.
Early reviews of the Bureau's Yakima water plan released on November 16 show the agency has not done a benefit-cost analysis, despite the proposal's $5 billion price tag. Federal water projects are required to show benefits exceed costs, in addition to addressing other tradeoffs and environmental impacts.
Conservationists are opposed to two new irrigation dams in the proposal. A new dam at Bumping Lake would drown and destroy approximately 2,000 acres of National Forest land including about 1,000 acres of ancient forests, according to the draft EIS. Adjoining the Yakima River canyon, a new dam called Wymer would flood approximately 1,000 acres of shrub steppe habitat at Lmuma Creek. In addition, the Wymer Dam is linked to possible future pumping of the Columbia River into additional storage dams in the Yakima Basin.
In 2008 the Bureau of Reclamation decided against building both dams: Bumping Dam, because of extraordinary environmental values, and the Wymer Dam on Lmuma Creek because the benefit-cost analysis would not support the project.
"This is a complex proposal including two new irrigation dams, fish passage and water conservation," said John Osborn, a Spokane physician who coordinates the Columbia River Future Project for Sierra Club. "The cost alone of $5 billion should make taxpayers sit up and take notice. The Bureau needs to slow down and open up the process to the public."
Osborn noted that the Bureau of Reclamation is making a habit of releasing major water project proposals to the public during the holidays, with a short time to review and comment. A year ago, the Bureau released another $3-5 billion proposal to expand federal irrigation in the Columbia Basin Project located in central Washington, but eventually agreed to increase the comment period. The Bureau's decision on that project, known as the Odessa Subarea Special Study, is due in January or February.
Background links
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•Conservationists' letter to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation requesting public comment deadline extension.
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•BuRec: Shrub Steppe wildlife values at the proposed Wymer Dam
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•Yakima River Water Future (Sierra Club)