HomeMy WebLinkAboutDrought Lease Staff Report
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.
507 N. Nanum St. Suite. 102 · Ellensburg, WA 98926
T: 509.962.7515 · F: 509.962.7581
Table 1: The total quantity (expressed in acre-feet of consumptive use water) that Kittitas
County has identified as available for potential 2019 drought leasing.
Kittitas County – Select Water Right Portfolio
Priority Date Water Source Water Right Name Original Qa (AF CU) Remaining Qa (AF CU)
1900 Yakima River Roth & Clennon 23.783 16.647
1871 Manastash Creek Williams 14.138 13.29
1871 Coleman Creek Schnebly 205.74 205.74
Total Quantity of Water Available in 2019 (AF CU) 235.677
Physical, legal, and policy concerns can make it difficult to secure and efficiently transfer water
rights in times of need, particularly given the windows when drought conditions become
apparent. The Kittitas County portfolio has several advantages: these water rights are readily
available for mitigation given that they held in the State Trust Water Rights Program for
mitigation; they are suitable for use in much of the Yakima basin, with clearly identified
suitability maps for Kittitas County; and the quantity of water available for transfer has been
approved by the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Action Requested:
Staff requests that the Board of County Commissioners approve the request for Public Hearing
on June 18th at 2:00 PM.