The 2006 Legislative
Session yielded Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2860 establishing
a Columbia River Basin Water Management Program and directing Washington
State Department of Ecology to aggressively pursue development of water
supplies to benefit both instream and out-of-stream uses through storage,
conservation and voluntary regional water management agreements. The
bill also creates a Columbia River Basin development account.
Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) recognizes the importance of this Program
in improving instream conditions for fish in the Columbia Basin. Ecology’s
Columbia River Water Program Implementation Team includes active participation
from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife staff and is focused
on assuring the Program appropriately balances water for instream and
out-of-stream uses. In addition, agency staff contributes fish, wildlife,
and habitat expertise to ensure Program compatibility with fish and
wildlife needs by developing and reviewing environmental and report
documents, forecasting methods, and implementation options; providing
baseline biological information; and conducting research that helps
define costs and benefits to fish and wildlife.
Further information
can be found on Ecology’s web
site.
Ecology / WDFW
Interagency Agreement for 2007-2009:
Washington Department
of Ecology has extended support for WDFW to participate in implementation
of the Col. River Basin Water Management Program through an Interagency
Agreement. Up to $ 1,541,825 can be spent by WDFW in four major program
areas: 1) Program policy implementation; 2) Technical Support for project
funding, water acquisitions, and water right applications review; 3)
Large storage and Lake Roosevelt drawdown; and 4) Support for advice
on fish and wildlife impacts and benefits related to Potholes Feed Routes
and supplying water to the Odessa Subarea. Ecology's support for WDFW
participation demonstrates their commitment to fish and wildlife and
their interest in ensuring their decisions are based in sound science.
Click here for the contract,
statement of work, and proposal documents for the individual studies
funded under this agreement.
