History of Over-Appropriation
in the Yakima River Basin
Black Rock – and other Yakima water supply proposals – are inspired by a problem endemic to water resource management throughout the western United States. Water is allocated according to the “prior appropriation doctrine,” colloquially known as “first in time, first in right.” In times of water scarcity, senior water right holders (those who used water first, usually starting in the late 1800s) have the highest priority and receive all of the water to which they hold rights. Junior users get the leftovers and in some years this means not enough water to irrigate crops – particularly in the Yakima basin.
Under the prior appropriation system, junior users should understand that they may not have access to all of the water they need every year – and plant their crops accordingly. However, many junior water users in the Yakima do not act according to this basic principle of western water law and have planted orchards, mint and other perennial crops. When water supply is curtailed, these water users risk losing investments in crops that should not have been planted in the first place. This situation creates crisis.
Thus, junior water users in the Yakima basin seek a new source of water supply. Because virtually all water in the Yakima basin is claimed and allocated, water users are now looking to inter-basin transfers, i.e., bringing water into the Yakima from other rivers, such as the Columbia, to solve their problems.
Washington’s water allocation system has also de-watered the Yakima River and its tributaries. The Yakima was home to once-mighty runs of several species of salmon and steelhead. Efforts to restore these salmon runs are hampered because insufficient water flows in the Yakima River during the irrigation season. Several studies have examined how to solve these problems through water conservation and water marketing, but funding and implementation remain insufficient. The water supply problems of the Yakima River have been recognized for many years, yet little has been done.
Next: The Black Rock Dam Proposal
Yakima River watershed.
source: USGS, Watershed and River Systems Management Program: Application to the Yakima River Basin
Black Rock Dam Proposal: transferring water from the Columbia River to the Yakima River. “Junior” water users in the Yakima basin are seeking new sources of water supply. Because virtually all water in the Yakima basin is claimed and allocated, junior water users are now looking to inter-basin transfers: bringing water into the Yakima from other rivers, such as pumping water from the Columbia River and storing it in Black Rock Reservoir for transfer into the Yakima Basin. Google Earth photo
Columbia Institute for Water Policy
Black Rock Follies © 2007
Perennial crops along Roza Canal, Yakima River watershed. When water supply is curtailed, “junior” water users risk losing investments in crops that should not have been planted in the first place.
source: Google Earth.
