Yakima River Basin Water Water Storage Feasibility Study. Volume 1: Final Planning Report/Environmental Impact Statement

摘要

The Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study (Storage Study), as authorized by the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2003, Public Law 1087, examines the feasibility and acceptability of storage augmentation for the benefit of fish, irrigation, and future municipal water supply for the Yakima River basin. The State of Washington, represented by the Department of Ecology (Ecology), and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), as joint lead agencies, prepared the Draft Planning Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the Storage Study (Draft PR/EIS), released in January 2008. The Draft PR/EIS contained Joint and State Alternatives. Because Public Law 1087 only authorized storage as a means to augment the water supplies, Reclamation focused its analyses on storage alternatives only and did not address fish habitat restoration, fish passage, or other nonstorage water supply or management issues. The State Alternatives were nonstorage concepts that could be addressed by Ecology through its legislative authorization. Based on comments received on the Draft PR/EIS, Ecology determined that it may not have fulfilled its requirements under Washington State law to identify and evaluate all reasonable water supply alternatives. Those comments suggested that all reasonable water supply alternatives could not be adequately evaluated without considering fish habitat and fish passage needs. Ecology has separated from the joint National Environmental Policy Act/State Environmental Policy Act (NEPA/SEPA) process and will proceed with a separate evaluation of water supply and management alternatives.