Irrigators Ready for 2017 Season

It’s been a soggy winter across the Northwest.  But the hot dry weather will be here before we know it.  And the local irrigation districts say they are ready to meet the needs of farmers for 2017.

Scott Revell with the Roza Irrigation District said he was encouraged by the Bureau of Reclamation’s recent forecast showing 100% supply for senior water rights holders, and 96% for juniors in the Yakima Valley.  Revell warned just because the region saw larger amounts of snow in the lower elevations than normal, doesn’t guarantee enough water this summer.

“A false sense of security, especially people in the Lower Basin, because they saw so much snow, so much more than normal, because we had two or three big storms come up from Oregon.”

Revell said he’s hopeful the Cascades and other higher elevations will see a few more snow storms over the next six weeks to help pad the snowpacks stats.  He added the Roza District has been hard at work since the water was turned off last fall to improve the irrigation system.

“Our contractor is out today, installing sealant, in the concrete lined sections of canal.  And that’s an ongoing project for the next ten years.  So, we’re hopeful those, particularly on the Pump 16 area, where we were doing the piping,  that shoes customers should see improved water pressure.

Rozell added that they also retrofitted several of their gravel packs, which should improve water quality.  Water is expected to be turned on March 25^th, with deliveries starting as early as March 29^th.

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