Summary Report Appraisal Assessment of the Black Rock Alternative

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Summary Report Appraisal Assessment of the Black Rock Alternative Summary Report Appraisal Assessment of the Black Rock Alternative A component of Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study, Washington Technical Series No. TS-YSS-7 Black Rock Valley U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Pacific Northwest Region December 2004 The mission of the U.S. Department of the Interior is to protect and provide access to our Nation’s natural and cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to Indian Tribes and our commitments to island communities. The mission of the Bureau of Reclamation is to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public. Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study, Washington Summary Report Appraisal Assessment of the Black Rock Alternative Technical Series No. TS-YSS-7 U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Pacific Northwest Region FRONTISPIECES Cashmere h Bend Main Map Legend REGIONAL REFERENCE Major Dams / Diversion Dams Major Roads e Ditch, Canal, etc. in Streams Wenatchee Water Bodies Pipel City Boundaries -K WASHINGTON s Dam Yakima River Basin Boundary K u e Coeur d'Alene e tial K c h [_ Yakama Nation Boundary e [_ l u ten [_ s o Seattle L P Odessa Yakima Project Divisions a Keechel Spokane k m e ! ! K ! ! a Ephrata Government Reservation ! ! c Da h YAKIMA e s s RIVER L C County Boundaries a l k chesse e BASIN E l u Ka m Chelan County [_ L a k Lake e Yakima Easton Grant County Cle Elum Dam Kittitas County Douglas County Quincy Roslyn am n D Cle Elum Portland [_ §¨¦90 Cle Elum Reach versio Di n Easto Moses Lake OREGON [_ Y a k Kittitas Division i m Potholes Reservoir a R Ellensburg iv e Kittitas Lind r Kittitas Reach §¨¦90 Yakima River Royal City Basin Potential Bumping Enlargement Boundary Wanapum Dam Mount Rainier e Bumping Lake k a g L Bumpin C o l Potential Wymer Reservoir u m Othello b i a R i v Dam e r 82 Grant County §¨¦ Adams County Adams County Roza Diversion Dam Kittitas County Franklin County Naches Naches Reach Yakima Training Center Yakima County (Department of Defense) Tieton N P r i a e c s t h R e Roza Division a p s i d iest Rapids Dam R s r ut12 L iv a Kahlotus Selah k P T e e ieton r Clear Rimrock Lake Union Gap Reach Lake Tieton Division Cl Dam Inflow Conveyance e ar Roza Canal Yakima Yakim C a Ridge reek Outflow Conveyance Potential Black Moxee Rock Reservoir Hanford Site Dam Union Gap (Department of Energy) Æ·24 Æ·24 D Wapato Diversion Dam ry Cr eek Æ·241 Bla Valley ck Rock ls Sunnyside Diversion Dam Hil ake esn Rattl Sunnyside Canal Wapato Benton CountyBenton Yakima County Harrah Zillah Wapato Reach Toppenish Roza Division Proposed Kennewick and Columbia Wapato Division Granger §¨¦82 Sunnyside Irrigation Districts' Pump Exchange Y ak Richland im a R i Yakama Nation v Sunnyside Division e r Grandview Pasco Kennewick Division Mount Adams Mabton Prosser Kennewick Yakima County ² Klickitat County 05 10203040 Miles Frontispiece A. Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study overview map i FRONTISPIECES ¦¨§82 Kittitas County Mattawa Yakima County Y P a r k i i e m s N t Roza Canal a a R R iv a Priest c er B p h asi id Rapids n B s e ou nd L Dam s ar a 12 y k ut Yakima Training Center Columbia e R Selah River iv (Department of Defense) e Intake r t a u C n l a l n p o p t e unnel l ro l umb x / ia im p River a ip te e a l l i i i nf n gn e m l e ow in nt fl o Yakima o f u Yakim c w a onv p Ridg c st e o re n a v m ey e R outlet facility & y oz a a nc n a Black Rock c de e Small Black e liv powerplant o e opt p ry Rock reservoir t s io y n s i te Large Black on m tunn el / pip Union Gap eline Rock reservoir Moxee outflow conv 24 eyanc Æ·24 Æ· e optio Roza Canal MP 22.6 MP Canal Roza n tem za delivery sys Ro n m ptio a e o e in r el t pip D s e ry n d C i reek w s Hanford o y d n n Black Rock dam Site u Sunnyside modified S Æ·241 (Department lley Roza Canal and Blac ock Va of Energy) pipeline option k R ls Hil ake tlesn Sunnyside powerplant Rat Sunnyside Canal MP 3.8 Benton County Benton Yakima County Y a k Wapato i m Roza Canal Detail Location a R i v e r Harrah Zillah Sunnyside Canal [ Seattle Yakama Nation Washington Toppenish Yakima[ Granger Portland[ ¦¨§82 Sunnyside ² 01.25 2.5 5 7.5 10 Miles Frontispiece B. Overview of the preliminary Black Rock alternative configurations iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY APPRAISAL ASSSESSMENT OF THE BLACK ROCK ALTERNATIVE A COMPONENT OF YAKIMA RIVER BASIN WATER STORAGE FEASIBILITY STUDY Executive Summary Further Consultations This appraisal assessment is limited to certain engineering and technical aspects of the potential Black Rock alternative. Furthermore, the information available at this time is necessarily preliminary, has been developed only to an appraisal level of detail, and is therefore subject to change if this alternative is investigated further in the course of the Yakima River Basin Storage Feasibility Study (Storage Study). Finally, economic, financial, environmental, cultural, and social evaluations of the Black Rock alternative have not yet been conducted, and this appraisal assessment offers no conclusions in this regard. The policy of the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) requires non-Federal parties to share the costs of financing feasibility studies and the eventual construction of Federal reclamation projects. In light of this policy, the preliminary cost estimates presented in this Summary Report, and current Federal budgetary constraints, Reclamation is not reaching a decision at this time as to whether the Black Rock alternative will be carried forward into the next phase of the Storage Study or dropped from further consideration. Rather, Reclamation will consult with the State of Washington (which is cost sharing in the Storage Study), the Yakama Nation, the potential water exchange participants, project proponents, and other interested parties before making a decision in this regard. It is anticipated that a decision will be reached by the fall of 2005. If the Congress provides further funding for the Storage Study, all technically viable alternatives would be compared and an alternative(s) selected for further analyses in the feasibility phase. (Whether the Columbia River-Yakima River water exchange concept in the form of the Black Rock alternative is included will depend upon whether Reclamation, after these additional consultations, decides to carry that alternative forward into the plan formulation phase of the Storage Study.) The selected alternative(s) would then be subject to detailed evaluation in the feasibility phase in terms of engineering, economic, and environmental considerations, and cultural and social acceptability. This feasibility phase would be the last phase of the Storage Study. Preparation of the Feasibility Report/Environmental Impact Statement would be a part of this final phase. Preliminary Conclusion on Technical Viability Reclamation concludes that, based on current information, a potential Columbia River-Yakima River water exchange by means of the Black Rock alternative appears to be technically viable. Reclamation also concludes that a potential water exchange could meet the purposes of the v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study (Storage Study). These conclusions are based on Reclamation’s assessment of the following: • potential participants who may be willing to exchange water; • availability of Columbia River water in excess of seasonal instream flow targets; • Washington State water appropriation statutes and exchange participants’ water rights and water service contracts; • damsite and reservoir basin geologic and hydrogeology characteristics; and • potential facility options and preliminary plans to divert, store, and deliver exchange water • exchanging Columbia River water for some Yakima River water currently diverted for use in the lower Yakima Valley will significantly improve the reliability of the Yakima River basin’s water supply. Background In February 2003, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Interior, acting through Reclamation, to conduct the Storage Study. The Storage Study is an ongoing evaluation of options for additional water storage facilities to improve water supplies for the Yakima River basin. It investigates the potential for in-basin storage opportunities (such as Bumping Lake enlargement, a new Wymer dam and reservoir, and a Keechelus to Kachess pipeline) as well as a potential transbasin diversion from the Columbia River (the Black Rock alternative). One purpose of the Storage Study is to develop additional stored water and manage it to improve anadromous fish habitat. To this end, the water supply goal is to restore the flow regime of the Yakima and Naches Rivers to some semblance of the natural (unregulated) hydrograph. A second purpose is to improve the reliability of the Yakima Project water supply to provide not less than 70 percent supply for junior (proratable) water rights in dry years. Another purpose is to meet growth demand for municipal water supply. Because the Federal authorization includes the provisions, “…with emphasis on the feasibility of storage of Columbia River water in the potential Black Rock Reservoir ….,” and because the State of Washington appropriated $4 million in the 2003 legislative session, also instructing that initial study emphasis be on the Black Rock alternative, the appraisal assessment of the Black Rock alternative (Assessment) was undertaken as an early component of the Storage Study.
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