YAKIMA, Wash. – The Bureau of Reclamation‘s recent May water supply forecast for the Yakima Basin reservoirs indicated that the current water supply will not fully meet irrigation demands this season.
The current supply is at 75 percent of average, with basin reservoirs being 60 percent full. This shortfall will impact junior water rights holders, who will see their entitlements reduced.
“Junior users are those that came on to the Yakima project after 1905, and they share the remaining bucket after the seniors have had their full entitlements satisfied,” said an official from the Bureau. The Roza Irrigation District, Kittitas Reclamation District in Ellensburg, and approximately half of the Wapato Irrigation Project are affected, receiving about half of their water supply.
The Bureau of Reclamation’s forecast for 2025 reveals that junior water right holders will receive roughly 51 percent of their full entitlements. Teresa Hauser, Supervisory Hydrologist with the Bureau of Reclamation, explained how these numbers are determined.
“We use the gauging station at the Yakima River at Parker, just south of Union Gap, as our control point,” she said. “We use that volume of water, then calculate the needs of the irrigation districts, fisheries targets, and then prorate whatever is remaining to the irrigation districts.”
Hauser emphasized that this year’s winter will be crucial for next year’s allocation.
“Last year, we were in a drought, and the year before that we were in a drought as well. This is a one bucket system and we try and allocate all the water in a single year to all the uses,” she stated.
Hauser added that anything less than 70 percent means major re-cropping and delivery decisions for junior water rights holders.
For more information on the Bureau of Reclamation and water rights, visit the bureau’s website.
