Lyall: Water Storage Important for Central Washington Farmers

Talk to the Central Washington Agriculture Community, and most likely the issue of water storage will come up.  Frank Lyall, the Yakima County Farm Bureau president says storage ideas are very popular and even plentiful during drought years like 2015.  However, he said during average years like 2016, it becomes a more difficult situation.  Lyall told the Washington Ag Network there are a variety of reasons why the water storage topic is so difficult to address.

“Mainly due to the cost involved, environmental impacts, and generally some people are going to benefit and others not benefit , or they might see water storage projects as a negative.”

Lyall added another problem holding back water storage projects, bureaucracy.  He said not only could the state and the federal government do more, but they could also do it faster.

“There was a day in America when we could get a large project done in the space of a few years such as Grand Coulee Dam, Hoover Dam, a number of any water projects.  And now, it literally takes decades to do what was done in a couple of years.”

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com