Transportation Forums & Curtailed Water Use

Transportation Forums & Curtailed Water Use I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today. On Wednesday Senate Transportation Committee co-chairs Senators Tracey Eide and Curtis King announced the dates and cities that will be included in a statewide listening tour aimed at gathering input from Washington residents on building a new package of transportation projects. The public meetings will kick off September 17 in Bellevue, with six more public meetings scheduled through October 9. Both Senators say they are looking forward to hearing from Washington residents on their priorities for the state's transportation system. King has often spoke of the need to "ensure that the state's agricultural and forest interests have open and efficient access to markets on the west side of the state". Eide stresses that "transportation is the backbone to a vital economy. EIDE: Washington state is instrumental in trade. We're 40% dependent upon it, and that means we have to have a great infrastructure. For more information on the public transportation forum times and locations visit Majoritycoalitioncaucus.org. Due to low flows in the Wenatchee River the Washington Department of Ecology has notified some 35 junior surface and groundwater users that their water use may be interrupted when streamflows fall below mandated minimums for late August, September and October. In the letters irrigators received orders informing them to call a toll-free number to determine whether they can water on a given day. Despite a forecast for a 100 percent water supply this year, water supply conditions have worsened. Current river flows at the Monitor gauging station are 711 cubic feet per second, which is very close to the 700 cfs minimum flows required for this time of year. I'm Lacy Gray and that's Washington Ag Today on the Ag Information Network.