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507 N. Nanum St. Suite. 102 · Ellensburg, WA 98926 T: 509.962.7515 · F: 509.962.7581 STAFF REPORT Date: June 3, 2019 To: Kittitas County Board of Health (BOH) & Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) From: Kittitas County Public Health Department (KCPHD) Re: Public Hearing to Consider 2019 Leasing of Kittitas County Water Rights Background: 2019 Yakima Basin water supply is expected to be insufficient to meet water needs, potentially resulting in prorationing and full curtailment affecting a number of water users. The Bureau of Reclamation’s adopted April Total Water Supply Available (“TWSA”) forecast calls for prorated water users to receive 77% of their water allotment1. When water supply is insufficient to fully meet the water right entitlements for proratable water users, junior users are fully curtailed. Water right holders dependent on tributary sources may experience additional curtailments, as access to this water is determined both by TWSA and local availability. On April 4, 2019, Governor Inslee declared a drought emergency for a portion of Washington State, including the Upper Yakima River watershed. Drought-year water leases can help alleviate drought-related hardships by transferring water to meet critical water needs. Kittitas County acquired a portfolio of water rights to meet rural domestic water needs. Since a significant portion of these water rights have been secured for future domestic needs, not current or historic needs, Kittitas County is interested in making these water rights available in response to drought needs. 2019 Water Right Holdings Kittitas County has identified 235.677 acre-feet of consumptive use water that could be made available through leasing agreements to assist water users facing prorationing or curtailment (Table 1). This water is a subset of the County’s portfolio that was purchased through local funds to mitigate new uses and has not yet been allocated through mitigation certificates for domestic use and is not needed to meet projected County mitigation certificate demand during the 2019 irrigation season. All of Kittitas County’s water right holdings have a priority date senior to May 10, 1905,2 and most importantly, the subset of identified rights below are from tributary sources and remained fully available in the two most recent droughts: 2005 and 2015. 1 The actual amount of prorationing is still uncertain, with an estimated range of 57% to 94%. 2 The date the Federal Yakima Irrigation project was authorized, which determines water user class according to Senior, Proratable, and Junior.