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0 <br />critical Teanaway River Basin in Upper Kittitas <br />County. Although regarded as senior (i.e., pre -1905) <br />in the Yakima River Basin, the 1886 priority date <br />claim was vulnerable to prorationing due to local <br />availability and low -flows in the Teanaway River. <br />A Trust Water Right Agreement was successfully <br />negotiated to provide backing with Ecology -owned <br />1893 water during periods of low -flows in exchange <br />for a diversion forbearance when Teanaway River <br />flows were below 11 cfs. The resulting agreement <br />allowed for reliable mitigation from a private water <br />bank in the upper reaches of Teanaway River Basin, <br />previously designed as a "red zone" areas in Upper <br />Kittitas County, <br />Water Right Due Diligence Evaluation ane: <br />Water Bank - Oroville Tonasket Irrigation <br />District (OTID) I Okanogan Basin, W.01 <br />OTID holds five water right certificates to provide <br />irrigation water to approximately 10,000 acres <br />in northern Okanogan County. In 2017, Aspect <br />completed a Certificated Water Right Examiner <br />(CWRE) Report on all five water right changes, <br />resulting in Ecology issuing CWRE approval letters for <br />nearly 40,000 acre-feet. On April 4, 2019, a drought <br />emergency was declared in the Methow, Okanogan, <br />and upper Yakima River watersheds. in partnership <br />with Ecology, Aspect assisted OTID in development of <br />a water bank to help regional water users impacted <br />by the drought. The water bank will be used to <br />support instream flows and to assist "junior" water <br />users during periods of curtailment. Long-term, the <br />water bank will provide financial solvency to the <br />district and reduce assessments to local growers. <br />Water Right Portfolio and Groundwater <br />Analysis -Selah-Moxee Irrigation <br />District I Yakima Basin, WA <br />For over a century, the Selah-Moxee Irrigation District <br />(SMID) has irrigated over 7,000 acres of the some of <br />the most productive agricultural land in the Yakima <br />Basin. However, areas surrounding their district <br />have been challenged by declining groundwater for <br />decades- To help ensure greater water security in the <br />region, SMID assessed theirwater rights portfolio to <br />see how they could leverage their currently supply <br />to offset these declines. Aspect set the stage for <br />broad water management strategy improvements <br />by auditing their water rights portfolio, including <br />conducting GIS surveys to determine potential <br />consumptive and nonconsumptive water use <br />savings from land use changes and canal lining. This <br />groundwork led to helping SMID secure $150,000 in <br />grant money to find supply side solutions around <br />declining groundwater in their area and set up a 9,000 <br />acre-foot water bank for future leases and sales of <br />water rights. <br />WRIA 49 `4.4*rshed Planning Support - <br />Okanogan County Okanogan County, WA <br />Aspect assisted Okanogan County in support of the <br />Okanogan (WRIA 49) RCW 90.04 Watershed Plan <br />Update, funded by a Department of Ecology Water <br />Resources Streamflow Restoration Project Planning <br />Grant. Aspect's work on this project includes: <br />• An ESSB 6091 -based analysis of projected permit - <br />exempt well growth over a 20 -year planning <br />horizon <br />• A GIS -based aerial photo review and statistical <br />analysis to establish the extent to which permit <br />exempt wells are used for outdoor irrigation in <br />Okanogan County <br />• Designing and building a custom software system <br />that can be used to plan for, track, and manage <br />future exempt wells in Okanogan County <br />• Targeted assessment of WRIA49 subbasins to <br />inform, identify, and recommend the most viable <br />and robust basin -specific projects to meet water <br />offset goals and achieve Net Ecological Benefit <br />• Evaluating potential water right acquisition <br />opportunities <br />• Evaluating other potential project offsets, <br />including engineered and/or natural water <br />storage, altered water management, habitat <br />restoration, and holistic watershed -scale <br />treatments, where appropriate <br />• Developing an interactive GIS webmap and other <br />geospatial data resources to support Planning <br />Unit collaboration, engagement, and decision- <br />making <br />• Providing technical support in leading the County <br />through the overall watershed plan update <br />