Kittitas County: Leading the Charge on Water Banking

On April 12, Aspect’s Dan Haller will co-present with Kittitas County Commissioner Paul Jewell on the future of Kittitas County Water Resource Management. Kittitas County has been at the heart of the state’s recent water banking approach with the most mature and heralded water bank in Washington. Over the past 10 years, they went from the staunchest opponent to exempt well management to the unquestioned leader in the State, with broad state, local, and tribal endorsement of their transformation.

Over the years, Aspect has helped the County develop the program, including an innovative "over the counter" water rights program.

The presentation will be at the Starlight Lounge in Ellensburg and hosted by the Washington Chapter of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA).

For more details and to register click here.

Aspect Helps Kittitas County Offer 'Over-the-Counter' Water Rights

Aspect has been assisting Kittitas County with implementation of their water bank. The newest feature is a general permit that allows the County to cover non-exempt uses in a streamlined manner through issuance of mitigation certificates, similar to their over-the-counter approach for exempt well mitigation.  This allows property owners to continue to interface in a streamlined and coordinated manner with Kittitas County instead of seeking one-on-one solutions with Ecology, that would be more time-consuming and expensive.  This is another example of how Aspect continues to assist counties with innovative solutions to Hirst-related issues. 

Check out this article by The Daily Record News for more detail!

Aspect Paves the Way for a First-of-its-Kind Affordable Housing Project

Five pieces of land in southeast Seattle’s Mount Baker neighborhood have sat unused for years. Contamination from a former gas station and dry cleaner has plagued the area’s potential, especially since they sit just two blocks away from the Mount Baker light rail station. However, that’s all changing thanks to an innovative collaboration between the Mt. Baker Housing Association, the City of Seattle, and the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Click image for King 5's video on the Mt. Baker Gateway Project

With the creation of a Redevelopment Opportunity Zone (ROZ), 150 units of affordable housing will soon go up in one of the City’s most racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods. This ROZ designation—the first-of-its-kind in the state—allows for state money to be used for the environmental cleanup. With this innovative model, these previously undevelopable parcels are on their way to becoming crucially needed affordable housing.

Aspect's Jessica Smith and Dave Cook at the site of the Mt. Baker Gateway project.

Aspect has been leading the environmental strategy with Mt. Baker Housing’s legal advisor, Seattle law firm, Perkins Coie. Like any complex urban brownfield project, progress requires a unique strategy, buy-in of stakeholders, and a demonstration of a win-win. The environmental cleanup consulting that Aspect is providing will set the stage for remedial cleanup of petroleum and solvent-contaminated soil and groundwater. The cleanup action will do more than benefit the parcels, it will improve environmental quality of this part of the neighborhood. Groundbreaking is estimated for 2019.

Look out for future project updates and milestones as we play our part in realizing the vision of this community and stakeholders for affordable, sustainable, and healthy housing in Seattle.

Aspect Honored with ACEC Award for Port Angeles Landfill Project

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) honored Aspect’s Port Angeles Landfill Stabilization Project in both Washington and Oregon at the organizations’ annual Engineering Excellence Awards.

The Port Angeles Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Slope Stabilization received a Grand award at the ACEC Oregon’s awards program in Portland, with Aspect’s Pete Stroud and Mark Swank in attendance. ACEC Washington recognized the project as a whole with a Silver Award for Social Economic and Sustainable Design Considerations at its Awards Gala in Bellevue.

Aspect was part of a large multidisciplinary team supporting the City of Port Angeles with environmental and geotechnical services on the $17 million project that moved 400,000 cubic yards of refuse away from a 140-foot bluff overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca while building Washington’s tallest reinforced soil slope. Slope construction was completed in 2016, and we will continue support with groundwater quality and seawall fluid reporting, landfill gas system evaluation/optimization, and monitoring of the MSE slope and landfill cover.

Aspect also played a role in several other projects honored by ACEC Washington. We served as lead geotechnical engineer on the Lodge Creek Culvert Replacement for Kittitas County, which received the Silver Award for Successful Fulfillment of Client/Owner Needs. The University Link Extension, which Aspect led the design team on exploration, engineering geology, and hydrogeology to build Sound Transit’s light rail tunnel from Capitol Hill to the University of Washington, received a Gold Award for Transportation. We also were the lead geotechnical engineer on two Best in State Bronze Award-winning projects: NW Bucklin Hill Bridge & Estuary Enhancement in Kitsap County and the Dungeness River Railroad Trestle Replacement for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

The Seattle and Oregon editions of the Daily Journal of Commerce have an overview of this year’s AECE Washington and ACEC Oregon winners. 

Curtis Nickerson Presenting on Stormwater Monitoring Tips and Trip-Ups at Oregon ACEC

Aspect’s Senior Associate Environmental Scientist Curtis Nickerson will be presenting at Oregon’s ACEC Environmental Water Resources Group (EWRG) on January 25 at the Hawthorne Lucky Lab Brew Pub in Portland. Curtis will talk about lessons learned in his 20 years of chasing storms. He will pass along tips for anticipating trips-ups during sampling and discuss monitoring site selection; innovative instrumentation and methods for monitoring at difficult locations; field procedures and QA/QC activities for flow metering; and water sampling and sediment monitoring.

Know Your Source: Exploring Hydrogeology’s Role in Water Rights Transfers

Check out the January issue of The Water Report, where Aspect’s Associate Hydrogeologist Tyson Carlson explains the key role hydrogeologic evaluation plays in successful water rights transfers. The article revolves around the “same source” concept and how understanding the hydrogeologic system of a site will help you manage risk, expand transfer options, and bring more certainty to regulatory approval.

Read the article here.

This article is reprinted with permission from The Water Report. A review copy of The Water Report is available to anyone, upon request, at www.thewaterreport.com.

Examples of Same Source Part of a Common Flow Regime

Meet Na Hyung Choi and Allan Covell

Aspect is excited to welcome Na Hyung Choi and Allan Covell! Staff Geologist Na Hyung recently completed her MS in Geology at Oregon State University. Her graduate work focused on geomorphology and structural geology of faulted alluvial fan complexes through field assessments, remote sensing, and numerical modeling.  She joins Aspect's Bainbridge office, where she has been busy with steep slope reconnaissance and subsurface investigations for our geotechnical group. Alan joins Aspect's Yakima office as an engineering designer. Allan brings over 15 years of experience as an engineering drafter/designer and will be engaged in water resources, geotechnical, and environmental projects at Aspect. Here are five questions we asked to get to know them better.

Na Hyung Choi

1.    Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here? 
I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and spent my childhood there, but I did most of my schooling in Georgia (the state). Then I moved to Corvallis, Oregon, for graduate school and lived there for 3 years before moving to Washington to join Aspect.

2.    What inspired you to pursue geology? What made you curious about it? 
I am a little bit surprised how things turned out. I remember from middle school the disdain I felt toward my younger brother’s mineral collection because it seemed so nerdy! But gradually I became aware of my appreciation for the outdoors and my enjoyment for learning why things look and act like they do. When I learned that a geology degree at the University of Georgia required a 6-week field course in Colorado, I was sold. Also, being in the South, I liked how I could delve into topics like evolution, climate change, and resource exploration that many found/find controversial. 

3.    What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated? 
I like being able to picture the processes that formed a landscape when I look around, and I can’t imagine exploring the world any other way now. At work, I enjoy applying my geological background to urgent questions by putting my foot on the ground and probing what’s around and underneath. I like seeing concrete reasons and results of my work, and it’s exciting to be able to say, “Hey, I helped build that!” or “Hey, I helped make this house a safer place to live!” I thrive when I’m constantly learning new things, and I’m very happy to be doing just that every day at Aspect.

4.    What do you like to do when you aren’t working? 
I love to cook. I read cookbooks for fun, watch a lot of cooking videos, and sometimes fantasize about taking a week off just to try a bunch of recipes. I love being in the mountains and try to go hiking every weekend. I also enjoy trying to rock climb, playing violin, visiting the local animal shelter to pet cats (and dogs), and goofing off with my partner, Phillip.

5.    Where in the world would you like to travel next? 
I’ve been wanting to visit Japan for a long time, largely for their food.

Allan Covell

1.    Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here? 
I’m born and raised in the Yakima Valley, currently living in Selah. I’ve lived in the Tri-Cities, Ellensburg, Spokane, and Puyallup, but have always felt more at home in Yakima area. I like being near the mountains and sagebrush, surrounded by all the orchards, vineyards, and hops. It makes all the seasons very distinct and beautiful.

2.    What inspired you to pursue Engineering? What made you curious about it? 
My father is a Civil Engineer, so I was exposed to his type of work from an early age. He would take me to his office and various construction projects that he was working on. I was curious about it because I like to know how things were designed and built. I especially liked looking at drawings and maps.

3.    What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?
I’ve always liked drawing, and CAD software means I can do it faster and better than I used to by hand way back in high school and at my first job. Since Autodesk has been improving Civil3D, drawing cool things in 3D has gotten a lot easier and more accurate. I’m excited to see where this software is headed over the next few years.

4.    What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
I enjoy spending time with my family, especially watching my kids learn and play sports. I also do some running (road and trail) when I have time and play coed volleyball on a city league team.

5.    Where in the world would you like to travel next? 
I’d love to go back to Cancun, Mexico for a second honeymoon. It’s been over 15 years since I was there and I’d like to see if my memory matches reality. Plus, I’d love to bring my kids along so they can experience a foreign country (Canada doesn’t count), some high humidity heat, and gorgeous white sand beaches.

The Story of Washington State's Water Future

Aspect Consulting partnered with Washington State University, the University of Utah, and Ecology’s Office of Columbia River to develop the 2016 Long-Term Water Supply and Demand Forecast.  From climate change to crop change, from municipal growth to hydropower demand, from water banking to declining groundwater, this report tells the story of how Washington is changing in response to a myriad of physical, economic, and legal challenges facing the State.  Over 2 years in the making, the report represents a comprehensive look at where Washington is going in the next 20 years and beyond.

Aspect Welcomes Our New Stormwater Team and Services for Municipal Clients!

Aspect is thrilled to announce our hiring of a municipal water quality services team, formed by 11 new staff, highly regarded for stormwater engineering, planning, and monitoring solutions for public agencies across the Pacific Northwest and the Western US.

In bringing aboard the  new members—seven stormwater and surface water quality scientists led by Senior Associate Environmental Scientist Curtis Nickerson and four stormwater planning and engineering experts led by Principal Water Resources Engineer John Knutson—Aspect broadens its existing stormwater engineering and planning for industrial clients to offer a wider range of stormwater services to municipal clients.

Aspect’s stormwater practice lead, Owen Reese, explains, “This is a natural addition to our existing expertise in industrial stormwater management, born of the recognition that municipalities constantly face the challenge of efficiently maintaining compliance with increasingly complex stormwater regulations. Curtis and John’s teams are experts in doing all of this, with a long history of providing strategic advice to cities, counties, and public agencies.” 

Joining Aspect’s Seattle office, Senior Associate Environmental Scientist Curtis Nickerson leads a group recognized by clients and technical peers as industry leaders in stormwater and surface water monitoring and evaluation, with a background serving clients such as the Port of Seattle, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Seattle Public Utilities, City of Puyallup, and King and Snohomish Counties. Curtis’ team includes Associate Water Resources Scientist Heidi Wachter, Senior Hydrologists James Packman and Bryan Berkompas, Project Environmental Scientist Brad Kwasnowski, Staff Water Resources Specialist Rebecca Powell, and Staff Water Resources Engineer Brian Hite. This group has over 10 years of experience working together and specialize in storm response monitoring, programmatic National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit compliance, and using statistical approaches to help clients determine best practices for cleaning and maintaining drainage systems.

“Aspect is a great fit for our team. As water quality regulations become more mature, we’re seeing public agencies tasked with being more flexible and strategic in how they monitor and communicate the data. Aspect’s existing data management and technology group advances our monitoring team’s ability to communicate, analyze, and manage water quality results. This will help us deliver even better water quality programs for clients,” Curtis said.

Aspect’s new stormwater engineering team in Yakima is led by Principal Water Resources Engineer John Knutson, with his longtime staff of Senior Water Resources Scientist/Hydrologist Bill Rice, Project Water Resources Engineer Erik Pruneda, and Senior Staff Water Resources Technician Will Guyton.  John’s team has particular expertise in municipal stormwater planning, utility development, compliance training, and design, including extensive low impact development (LID) experience. They also provide a wide range of Underground Injection Control (UIC) compliance and design services, along with stream restoration and floodplain management. John and his team has worked for clients such as the Cities of Ellensburg, Kennewick, Pullman, Moscow, Spokane, and Tumwater; Asotin, Kittitas, Grant, Stevens, and Yakima Counties; and WSDOT. 

John notes that, “Local stormwater programs are always evolving in response to regulatory changes. Our role is to help communities comply while ensuring programs are efficient, effective, and tailored to their unique issues and needs. We excel in this arena, and are excited to help Aspect become one of the few truly full service stormwater firms in the Northwest.”  

With the addition of these new team members, Aspect’s stormwater group builds upon its established practice with an expanded capacity to provide services for industrial and municipal clients, including:

  • Comprehensive planning;
  • Stormwater utility formation;
  • NPDES Phase I/II and UIC compliance program development and implementation support;
  • Development of standards and design manuals;
  • System inventory and mapping; storm response monitoring and water quality evaluations;
  • Stormwater BMP effectiveness assessments;
  • Hydrologic and hydraulic modeling;
  • Data collection for hydrologic and water quality model calibration/validation;
  • Data quality management system development;
  • CIP development;
  • Design of both conventional and LID BMPs; and
  • Programmatic NPDES compliance assessments and strategy development.

Aspect also provides a wide array of flood and floodplain management services, including flood mitigation planning, modeling, design, and streamflow measurement and instrumentation.

Dave Cook Speaking on Environmental Ethics at Seattle University on November 7

Principal Geologist Dave Cook will be speaking about environmental ethics to an engineering class at Seattle University on November 7. Dave will cover how to understand an environmental professional’s role when project and land use decisions will ultimately affect others. He’ll cover scenarios that come up during environmental project work that don’t always have a blueprint for how to handle, such as:

  • Dealing with landslide risk – how to notify someone to leave their home?
  • If, how, and when to respond to public and media comments critical of ongoing project work.
  • What dictates when, how and why to report a contaminant release - it isn't always a clear cut case.

He’ll also cover current events including the South Dakota pipeline and Flint Michigan water crisis.

Landmark Hirst Water Rights Decision Increases Burden on Counties to Evaluate Exempt Well Impacts

In a landmark decision on the use of exempt wells and county responsibility for evaluating impacts from the wells on instream flows, the Washington Supreme Court (Court) recently overturned a lower court decision in the Whatcom County v. Hirst case.  The lower court decision appealed in this case essentially directed local governments to follow the Washington Department of Ecology’s (Ecology) interpretation of instream flow rules in determining water availability. This Court decision rescinds that direction, noting that the Growth Management Act (GMA) places an independent responsibility to ensure water availability on counties, not on Ecology.  The decision also noted that the fact that county provisions are wholly consistent with Ecology’s regulations does not, by itself, render them consistent with GMA requirements.

The Ruling Constrains Exempt Well Use in Washington

Under existing law (RCW 90.44.050), the groundwater permit exemption allows, for a limited number of purposes, water users to construct and develop groundwater wells for small quantities of groundwater without obtaining a permit.  According to the new ruling, there is no question that a permit-exempt well may not infringe on an earlier established right to water, including instream flow rules, under the doctrine of prior appropriation.  The Court also found it contradictory that Ecology must consider the effect of groundwater appropriations on minimum flows when issuing water right permits, while counties did not consider these same impacts when issuing building permits with exempt wells.  This means that in a basin with adopted minimum instream flows, any new exempt well or exempt well drilled after adoption of flows may be subject to interruption when flows are not met, rendering these wells legally unreliable as a continuous domestic water source.

The Ruling Increases County Responsibility for Water Availability Determinations under GMA

In addition, this ruling imposes a strict standard for county review of cumulative impairment from exempt wells due to rural development.  Aspect has been working with Spokane, Stevens, and Pend Oreille Counties to establish a water bank for the Little Spokane River watershed.  A water bank is a mechanism that facilitates transfer of water rights between sellers and buyers through use of the state’s trust water right program, using banked water as mitigation for new water uses. The three counties anticipated that use of unmitigated exempt wells would continue to be more restricted in the state and proceeded with water bank development to proactively address this concern, along with addressing other future water needs in the basin. The recent ruling in Whatcom County v. Hirst only increases the need for local jurisdictions to be directly involved with proactive water resource management.

Aspect's Andrew Holmson Presenting at APWA's Fall Conference

Aspect’s Andrew Holmson will be presenting at the American Public Works Association’s (APWA) fall conference in Spokane on Thursday, October 6. He and City of Port Angeles Engineering Manager Kathryn Neal will present Protect and Innovate: Port Angeles Landfill Stabilization – the story of how the City and a large, multidisciplinary team relocated 400,000 cubic yards of refuse away from a 140-foot bluff overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca while building Washington’s tallest reinforced soil slope.

Aspect has provided geotechnical engineering, hydrogeology, and environmental support to the City’s closed landfill facility since 2007. We led the engineering geology team in determining long-term and short-term shoreline and bluff retreat rates, evaluating options for removal of existing shoreline protection structures, extending or modifying the structures, evaluating bluff slope failure mechanisms and slope stabilization options, landfill cell relocation, and fill slope stabilization and design. Work on the slope was completed ealier this year. Aspect continues to support the City with operation and maintenance of the landfill gas system and have provided environmental monitoring and support to meet regulatory reporting requirements.

Learn more about the APWA’s fall conference here and read more on Aspect’s efforts on the landfill here.

Tim Flynn talks Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) at the NGWA Conference in Portland

This September 8-9 the National Groundwater Association will host the “Connecting the Dots…Groundwater, Surface Water, and Climate Connections” conference in Portland, Oregon.  This 2-day conference will focus on the connections between groundwater, surface water, and climate in the area encompassing Washington, Idaho, Oregon, northern California, and British Columbia.

Aspect’s president and principal hydrogeologist Tim Flynn will present on day two of the conference in the Drought Resilience/Water Availability/Scarcity portion of the conference. He will be presenting on Aquifer Storage and Recovery and will examine the challenges and opportunities of ASR. Learn more about the conference HERE.

Aspect Tours the Entiat National Fish Hatchery

It’s early August in central Washington. Three blocks from Aspect’s Wenatchee office, the Columbia River rolls downstream on its way to the Pacific Ocean. Beneath the surface, adult Chinook salmon swim upstream, returning from the sea to the rivers where they were born. Some of these fish are destined for the Entiat River and may eventually find themselves climbing the ladder to the Entiat National Fish Hatchery (ENFH).

Although all salmon hatcheries share a similar goal of producing fish, they each have unique characteristics that influence the way in which they operate. Aspect’s Wenatchee team is visiting ENFH today to learn about the specific challenges that Craig Chisam and Jason Reeves of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) face at their facility, and what they have done to solve them. Meeting with the operators directly, seeing systems in action, and asking questions helps Aspect build a collective understanding for problem solving that can be applied to help other hatchery facilities throughout the Pacific Northwest.

This isn’t the first time Aspect has been to ENFH. In 2014, hydrogeologists Joe Morrice and Tim Flynn performed an assessment of the hatchery’s existing water supplies and rights, and the condition of water-source infrastructure. Their recommendations for improving the hatchery’s access to a reliable supply of cold, clean water are being pursued by the USFWS. More water for the tanks and raceways means better rearing conditions for the 400,000 juvenile Chinook ENFH releases each year.

Following the tour, the group makes a stop along the Entiat to look for adult salmon moving upstream. Engineers Nick Szot and Ryan Brownlee, both avid fishermen, point at pools that hold fish and talk strategy. Some early morning soon, they will return to the river with rods and tackle. With some luck, they may head home with a fish that Craig and Jason helped raise.

Announcing Aspect Portland

Aspect Consulting is crossing the Columbia, opening up shop in downtown Portland.

Aspect Portland is a reality made possible by two extraordinary additions to our team: engineering geologists Pete Stroud and Mark Swank. Pete and Mark are both Portland locals, with decades of combined consulting experience between them. Our Portland team increases the breadth of technical talent available to our existing clients, as well as offering Oregon clients access to our 70+ person team of geotechnical, water resources, remediation engineers, hydrogeologists, and geologists.

 “Mark and I are excited to join Aspect and launch the Portland office. With Portland’s infrastructure market growing, many ongoing environmental cleanup projects throughout the region, and the challenge of managing limited water supply across the state, we really feel Aspect’s proven experience in those areas and deep roster of high-performing technical advisors is a great fit to help our Oregon clients succeed.” said Pete Stroud.

Pete Stroud

Pete joins Aspect as a Senior Associate Engineering Geologist, with over 30 years of professional experience leading engineering, engineering geologic, geotechnical, and environmental projects.

Mark Swank

Mark joins Aspect as a Senior Engineering Geologist with over 14 years of experience performing engineering and geologic analysis for schools, dams, and infrastructure projects. Mark and Pete were colleagues for over 10 years at Kleinfelder’s Portland office and bring their strong partnership to Aspect.

“This is a great time and a great team to bring Aspect’s extensive project experience to the greater Portland/Vancouver area and up the Columbia Gorge,” said Tim Flynn, President and Principal Hydrogeologist at Aspect. “Mark and Pete’s 40 years of combined consulting experience in the Portland area gives us immediate credibility with local clients and sets Aspect up for long-term success in the region.”

Highlights of their Portland and Pacific Northwest projects include the I-5 Willamette River Crossing in Eugene, Lake Oswego-Tigard Water Partnership (LOTWP) pipeline project, Condit Dam Decommissioning, Scoggins Dam Raise, Oregon Convention Center, Hoyt Street Properties Redevelopment and a tradition of working and managing a variety of on-call professional services contracts throughout the state.

Aspect’s new Portland office is located at 522 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 1300, in the historic Yeon Building on the Portland Transit Mall in the heart of downtown. Keeping with Aspect’s commitment to sustainability, it’s a convenient, accessible location, close to our clients and teaming partners. 

Enloe Dam Water Rights Case Upheld—Permitting Path Stays More Certain for Applicants

The Washington State Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Department of Ecology appropriately conditioned the approval of a water right permit for the Public Utility District No. 1 of Okanogan County's (PUD) hydroelectric project on Enloe Dam. 

The case revolved around the public interest test in RCW 90.03.290, and the application of the protection of aesthetics of public waters in RCW 90.54.020, as well as a previously-issued 401 Certification under the Clean Water Act.  The Court of Appeals upheld the conditioned approval of the water right permit with a 5-year adaptive monitoring plan to evaluate the aesthetics of different flow levels over the dam and falls.  Because the final flow levels necessary to protect aesthetics were not known at the time of permit issuance, the appellants (Center for Environmental Law and Policy, American Whitewater, and North Cascades Conservation Council) argued that Ecology did not have authority to approve the permit.  The Court of Appeals disagreed.  “We conclude that Ecology had authority to issue a ROE, and water permit, which was subject to a condition to ascertain information that was not available prior to proceeding with the Project. Ecology did not abuse its discretion in determining that the PUD's water permit should issue subject to the stated conditions.” 

This is an important finding in water right permitting because not all conditions of a project can be known with clarity at the time of applying for a water right permit.  Ecology’s ability to approve a permit, subject to verification of conditions or adaptation-provisions for changing conditions, is important authority to retain.  A copy of the decision can be viewed at:  https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/748416.pdf. Contact Dan Haller (509.895.5462) at Aspect Consulting with any questions. 

Eastern Washington's Water Future in the News

The just released Columbia River Basin Long-Term Water Supply and Demand Forecast is gathering the attention of the news media. National Public Radio interviewed Aspect’s Dan Haller as part of their coverage. For the last two years, Aspect has worked on the research team alongside Washington State University and the University of Utah to forecast how regional environmental and economic conditions will affect water supply and demand through 2035. The report is now open for public comment through July 20. The final version will go the state legislature in the fall to help steer sound water goals and policy for eastern Washington.

Hear and read the interview here: More Water For Eastern Washington, But Not When Its Needed Most

Forecasting the Future of Water Use in the Columbia River Basin

Changing climate will affect availability and demand for water in Washington's Columbia River Basin, and will influence how water will be managed in the basin over the next 20 years, according to a new report being prepared for the Washington Department of Ecology's Office of Columbia River. 

The Columbia River Long Term Water Supply and Demand Forecast project team is preparing an updated long-term water supply and demand forecast for the Washington Department of Ecology, Office of Columbia River and would like your feedback. The Forecast team includes researchers from Washington State University, University of Utah, Aspect Consulting, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. This forecast, updated for the Washington Legislature every five years, provides a generalized, system-wide assessment of how future environmental and economic conditions are likely to change water supply and demand by 2035.

The team will host a series of FREE public workshops June 21st – June 23rd in Tri-Cities, Wenatchee and Spokane.  The purpose of these workshops is to share preliminary results from the 2016 Water Supply and Demand Forecast, provide an opportunity for public feedback and interaction, and gather input on possible improvements for the 2021 Forecast. (SEE POSTER BELOW FOR DETAILS)

What to Expect:

  • Presentations from researchers introducing the methodologies used and preliminary results found
  • Q&A sessions with the researchers
  • Open house, with time to explore results further and provide comments on the draft results