Published 11:45 am Thursday, May 23, 2024
Water rationing began May 21 in drought-stricken Central Washington for Yakima River Basin irrigators with junior water rights.
The irrigators face their worst water shortage since 2015. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation forecasts they will receive 54% of their normal water allotments this year.
The inflow of water into the bureau’s five reservoirs is slackening, Reclamation Bureau river operations engineer Chris Lynch said.
Irrigation districts delayed rationing by conserving this spring, he said. “They reined in their demand to extend the date,” he said.
The Reclamation Bureau’s reservoirs supply irrigation water for more than 400,000 acres in Central Washington. The reservoirs on May 22 held 74% of the normal amount of water.
The reservoirs have received 82% of average rainfall since the water year began Oct. 1. Snowpacks that will melt into the reservoirs are about half as large as average.
Irrigators with senior water rights will receive full supplies. All junior water right holders will be cut back equally.
The Roza Irrigation District, which serves more than 72,000 acres, on May 22 shut down its 95-mile long canal to save water for hotter days to come.
It’s the first canal shutdown since 2015.
The canal likely will stay dry for 10 days, saving approximately 10,000 acre-feet of water, Roza manager Scott Revell said.
The district spent about $4 million to lease 14,000 acre-feet of water, but even with the spring shutdown and leased water, growers will have to cut back on water use, he said.
The district normally delivers water until Oct. 20, but hopes this year to just stretch the supply to the end of September, Revell said.
The district does not plan to have another shutdown until then, he said.
Some 20% of Washington is in a “moderate drought,” the federal Drought Monitor reported May 23, unchanged from a week ago.
The state Department of Ecology anticipates conditions will worsen as a smaller-than-average snowpack melts and temperatures rise.
Ecology declared a statewide drought in April, excluding Everett, Seattle and Tacoma.
The Reclamation Bureau will issue a new water supply forecast for the Yakima River basin June 6.
The current outlook is slightly better than in 2015, when irrigators in May anticipated 47% of normal water supplies. An unseasonably hot late spring drove water supplies down to 44% in June.
The Washington State Department of Agriculture estimated the 2015 drought caused $75.78 million in crop losses in the Roza district, which produces high-value crops such as apples, hops and grapes.
Since then, the district has invested in new canals, pipes and other equipment to reduce losses.
