[6] Washington Releases EIS On New Columbia Water Management Plan

Washington's Department of Ecology has released a programmatic EIS on its new program for breaking the log jam over new water usage from the Columbia River that has been stalled for years over questions of ESA fish protection and future withdrawals.

"A successful Columbia River water management program must benefit both the economic and environmental vitality of Eastern Washington," said Ecology Director Jay Manning, in a Feb. 15 press release. "We are putting the building blocks in place to secure new water to meet both of the needs."

Based on legislation passed last year that authorizes up to $200 million to pay for new water projects and allocations, the new plan calls for more conservation, buying up some existing water rights, expanding storage, and developing long-term agreements.

Other parts of the plan call for improving water delivery to the Odessa Subarea to save groundwater, more study of potential storage sites, giving more water to those users with interruptible rights and drawing up more voluntary water agreements. -B. R.

The following links were mentioned in this story:

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Columbia River Water Management Program

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