Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District details conservation gains, warns basin storage remains insufficient
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Summary
Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District manager David Feldman told the Sunnyside climate advisory team that SVID has invested about $22 million in conservation measures, has conserved roughly 38,000 acre‑feet to date and saved 29,000 acre‑feet in an earlier phase, but basin storage deficits mean additional projects and aquifer recharge remain necessary.
David Feldman, district manager for Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District, told the Sunnyside Climate Resilience Advisory Team on Dec. 16 that the Yakima Basin remains over‑allocated despite recent inflows and that local conservation projects have produced measurable savings.
“500,000 acres of irrigated cropland [in the basin] with roughly a $4,500,000,000 annual economy,” Feldman said, and he described SVID’s multi‑phase conservation program. He said SVID’s first phase saved about 29,000 acre‑feet; to date the district has conserved about 38,000 acre‑feet and has invested roughly $22,000,000 of its own funds in conservation work. Feldman added that the district’s portfolio is about 70% senior water and 30% junior water and that proratable (junior) irrigators were rationed to 40% this year.
Why it matters: Sunnyside relies on regional storage and irrigation infrastructure. Feldman said basin demand is about 2,500,000 acre‑feet, reservoirs provide roughly 1,000,000 acre‑feet of storage and the basin faces an approximate 1,500,000 acre‑foot annual shortfall; he also described an increase in reservoir inflows from about 227,000 to over 530,000 acre‑feet between Dec. 1 and Dec. 16 in this season’s storms. Those figures underscore the district’s point that without additional lower‑basin storage or aquifer recharge projects Sunnyside and surrounding communities will continue to face recurring shortages.
Details and local implications: Feldman summarized projects SVID has deployed to reduce operational spills and seepage: main canal automation and 30 automated check structures, three reregulation reservoirs, a SCADA system for remote monitoring, enclosed laterals (the Ellipse program) and more than 2,000 flow meters. He said enclosure and pressurization of laterals allow growers to remove pumps and use gravity pressure at turnouts, improving farm‑level efficiency. Feldman said the Ellipse program averages three to five miles of pipe enclosed per year, has piped over 120 miles to date, and is slated to run through 2045 in its current phase.
On voluntary programs and environmental benefits, Feldman described a basin‑wide agreement with the Department of Ecology and Trout Unlimited that allowed growers to voluntarily fallow land and lease conserved water to support out‑migrating fish. “We followed over 2,000 acre feet of water,” he said, and growers received $300 per acre‑foot for that water.
Questions from advisory members focused on whether conservation projects help aquifer recharge, monitoring of runoff (nutrients and contaminants), and equity during rationing. Feldman said reservoirs are lined and that aquifer recharge pilots (ASR projects) are being pursued under the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan; he said SVID does not currently sample for VOCs, IOCs or trihalomethanes in irrigation runoff but does monitor total suspended solids and nitrates.
What’s next: Advisory members requested follow‑up material on wells, stormwater routing in Sunnyside, and MS4 permit responsibilities; SVID and staff said they will provide follow‑up information for the next meeting.
Ending: Feldman thanked the group for the invitation and said SVID looks forward to continued coordination on pipe enclosure, conservation and pilot recharge projects.
