Senate committee hears bill to extend Yakima Basin milestones, keep Tiena Way land in community forest

The Washington State Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on June 30 heard testimony on Senate Bill 5303, which would extend deadlines in the Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan so that milestones for securing permits and funding for water supply facilities move from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2035. Jeff Olson, staff to the committee, told members the bill would extend the statutory milestones and noted the bill contains an emergency clause that would take effect on June 30 of this year.

The Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan was developed collaboratively by the Bureau of Reclamation, the Washington Department of Ecology and many basin stakeholders to improve water management, protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat, and increase reliability of irrigation, municipal and domestic water supplies. Olson said the plan directs the Department of Ecology to prepare financing plans and requires the Washington Water Research Center to review cost-benefit analyses for components over $100 million; those statutory review requirements are scheduled to expire July 1, 2025, under current law.

Under existing law cited in committee testimony, the Department of Natural Resources was authorized in 2013 to…