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Re: Comments on the Kittitas County 2026 Comprehensive Plan update
<br />March 2, 2026
<br />Page 11
<br />The chapter must prioritize actions that benefit overburdened communities.
<br />We appreciate that 10.2.2 identifies vulnerable populations, overburdened
<br />communities, and environmental justice on pages 164 and 165. However, we did
<br />not find any actions prioritized to benefit overburdened communities or any
<br />policies or programs designed to benefit overburdened communities. Water
<br />actions will be particularly important.
<br />The chapter must address climate caused decreases in water supplies and
<br />help address the increased demand for agricultural water supplies.
<br />Much of Kittitas County is in Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 39.32 The
<br />2011 Columbia River Basin Long -Term Water Supply and Demand Forecast wrote:
<br />The types of vulnerabilities that our region is expected to face due to
<br />changes in water supply in the future are to some extent common
<br />across all Washington's watersheds. These changes in supply are
<br />driven by changes in timing of water availability within each year
<br />and, in some watersheds, the greater variation expected between
<br />years. However, the degree to which these changes are expected, and
<br />the convergence of these changes in supply with expected changes in
<br />the different demands for water are what vary across eastern
<br />Washington's watersheds.
<br />The WRIAs in the upper Yakima Basin (WRIAs 38 and 39) are
<br />expected to see such convergence. These WRIAs are expected to
<br />experience decreasing water supplies in low supply years (Figure 21),
<br />while at the same time expecting increases in agricultural water
<br />demand (Figure 23).33
<br />32 State of Washington Department of Ecology, Water Resources Program, WRIA 39 Upper Yakima
<br />Watershed Water Availability P. 7 (Publication 20-11-039: Aug. 2023) last accessed on Feb. 16,
<br />2026, at: https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/publications/UIPages/SummaryPages/2011o3g html and at
<br />the link on the last page of this letter with the filename: "2011039.pdf."
<br />33 Hall, S.A., Adam, J.C., Yourek, M.A., Whittemore, A.M., Yorgey, G.G., Scarpare, F., Liu, M.,
<br />McLarty, S., Asante-Sasu, C., McClure,S., Turk, J., Haller, D., Padowski, J., Deshar, R., Brady, M.P.,
<br />Rajagopalan, K., Barber, M.E., Weber, R., Stockle, C.O., Goodspeed, H.L., Gustine, R.N., Kondal, A.,
<br />Yoder, J., Deaver, B., Downes, M., Tarbutton, S., Callahan, M., Price, P. Roberts, T., Stephens, J., and
<br />Valdez, W., 2021 Washington State Legislative Report: Columbia River Basin Long -Term Water
<br />Supply and Demand Forecast P. 51 (Publication No. 21-12-006, Washington Department of Ecology,
<br />Olympia, WA: 2022) last accessed on Feb. 27, 2026, at:
<br />https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/publications/SummaryPages/2112oo6.html and at the link on the last
<br />page of this letter with the filename: "2112oo6.pdf."
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