Manastash Project

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

Tomorrow Governor Jay Inslee will be launching the Manastash Creek Conservation and Tributary Enhancement Project at 1:30 pm at the project site 6 miles west of Ellensburg. The Manastash Project is the first construction project to be conducted as part of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. Derek Sandison with the Department of Ecology talks about the Manastash Project.

SANDISON: It's an agricultural conservation project. It will put water back in a stream that's been severely de-watered for decades and it demonstrates the strong partnership between the Bureau of Reclamation, the State of Washington and the local stakeholders in putting these kind of projects on the ground.

Sandison also talks about why the Governors involvement in the event is so important.

SANDISON: Governor Inslee as a Congressman was a prime sponsor of the 1994 Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project legislation. And now as Governor he's come back to sign the legislation that put into effect the Yakima Integrated Plan as essentially a third phase of the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project.

The Manastash Project will deliver irrigation water to farmers more efficiently and provide additional in-stream flows to Manastash Creek, a stream that is currently dry for a good portion of the year. The project is considered a critical component for restoring steelhead and salmon stocks to healthy levels within the Yakima Basin.

Governor Inslee will be joined at the event by representatives of the Yakama Nation, the DOE,

the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project Workgroup, as well as local landowners and fisheries interests.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.