Yakima Water Rights Hold To Start September

The Bureau of Reclamation is out with the latest water supply numbers for the Yakima basin in central Washington.  September’s supply available forecast indicates, again, the water supply will not fully meet irrigation demands this season.  Reclamation said senior water rights will receive 100% full entitlements while junior water rights will receive 40% of their full entitlements, the same figure reported at the start of August. 

Storage in the Yakima basin reservoirs on September 1st was 20% full with 218,000 acre-feet, which Reclamation said is 44% of average.

On the positive side, precipitation for August was 3.45 inches, which is 109% of average.  The water year to date precipitation total (October–August) is now at 77% of average.

Water shortages in the basin are shared equally by the junior water rights, which represent over half of the water rights in the basin.

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