Columbia River Settlement Good News for Salmon
Four Eastern Washington cities will have access to water they want, and river advocates and the state Department of Ecology will have more tools to protect river resources under a settlement agreement announced this week. In December 2002, the "Quad Cities" of Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and West Richland were granted a a permit to withdraw 178 cfs (cubic feet per second or 80,000 gallons per minute) from the Columbia River for use in their municipal water systems. Earth Share of Washington member Center for Environmental Law and Policy (CELP) felt that this ruling could cause great harm to migrating salmon. Settlement negotiations over the last two months have resulted in an agreement and allows the cities to initially use up to 10 cfs of water under the terms of a newly drafted permit. The negotiated permit features stronger conservation requirements, tighter standards and conditions for accessing incremental water dispersals, and more tools for measuring, monitoring, and mitigating the impacts of water diversions.
"This agreement - now approved by the elected representatives of all four cities, the Department of Ecology and CELP - puts in place some important safeguards that will help ensure that the precious waters of the Columbia River will flow for future generations of the families, farms, businesses and wildlife that depend on it," said Karen Allston, Executive Director of CELP. "The parties worked hard to hammer-out a comprehensive settlement package that considers everyone's interests, and we're pleased about that," added Allston.
Under the agreement, the Quad-cities agreed to the following pro-river terms:
- Each of the cities will come up with plans to "pay back" the river during low flow periods and show direct benefits to fish and the Columbia River system,
- The Cities will have to follow strict conservation requirements, including definite timelines for implementing programs, and
- The Department of Ecology agreed to postpone formal rule-making on the Columbia River Initiative until it has received the final scientific report from the National Academies of Science panel.
To read more about the Columbia River Initiatives, please visit the following websites:
CELP Columbia River News
http://www.celp.org/columbiariver.html
Department of Ecology - Columbia River Initiative
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/
cri/crihome.html