YAKIMA BASIN CLEAN
WATER PARTNERSHIP
A COMMITTEE OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON RESOURCE
CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
5 – Year Workplan – Executive Summary, November 2011
A Committee Of The
South Central Washington
Resource Conservation & Development Council
Mission:
To lead in developing, promoting, and advancing market based strategies to improve water
quality for the benefit of all communities in the Yakima River Basin.
Vision:
Implementing environmentally and fiscally competitive solutions for measurably improved
water quality in the Yakima River Basin.
Committee Members: Nicole Berg-Tobin (Chair, Benton Conservation District), Ryan
Anderson (City of Yakima), Jill Arango (Cascade Land Conservancy), Larry Cadwell (Benton
Conservation District), Jack Clark (Benton Conservation District), Robert Farrell (Port of
Sunnyside), Frank Hendrix (North Yakima CD), Louis Musso III (South Central Wa. RC&D
Council Chair), Philip Rigdon (Yakama Nation), Ron Shultz (Washington State Conservation
Commission), Tim Tilley (City of Zillah)
Advisory Members: Sherre Copeland (NRCS), Charlie McKinney (Wa. Dept. of Ecology)
CONTENTS
Background and Committee Role ............................................................................................ 3
Background .......................................................................................................................... 3
Committee Role in Yakima Basin Clean Water Efforts ......................................................... 3
Committee / SubCommittee Structure ..................................................................................... 5
Strategic Priorities ................................................................................................................... 6
Technical Tools ..................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Market Based Strategies ....................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Policy & Influence .................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Regional Collaboration .......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Education............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Operations & Funding ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Short-Term Goal Action Schedule ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Project Review and Approval................................................................................................... 6
Goals Grid ............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Budget Projects ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
BACKGROUND AND COMMITTEE ROLE
BACKGROUND
Yakima River Basin communities have long been seeking solutions to water management
challenges. In 1997, the Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE) set suspended
sediment and DDT pollution reduction targets for the Yakima River. Irrigators in the basin
immediately accelerated efforts to reduce erosion from approximately half a million acres of
farmland in the basin. In 2001, the river began responding to successful clean up actions,
and eventually in 2006, showed substantive reductions in suspended sediment, DDT and
other pesticide levels in fish samples. However, as early as 2001, when aquatic plant growth
began choking some sections of the Yakima River, local, state and federal scientists
recognized that the successful clearing of the water uncovered a whole new problem; high
river temperatures, high pH and low dissolved oxygen (DO).
The new concerns about aquatic plant growth, DO, and pH prompted the South Yakima
Conservation District to apply for and receive a $500,000 grant to study water quality in the
Yakima River. The study was completed in 2007 and was published by the United States
Geological Survey (USGS) in 2009. The study’s conclusions alluded that a standard
approach Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) would not necessarily work to improve the
water quality in the Yakima River. In addition to nutrient reductions, flow and habitat
restoration was necessary to meet standards for water quality in the Yakima River.
After the publication of the Yakima River Basin Eutrophication Assessment, and with potential
TMDL development, basin communities recognized the need to address the temperature, pH
and dissolved oxygen 303d listings. The Yakima Basin Point Source Group (PSG) was
formed and began working with WDOE to consider using an adaptive implementation
strategy as an alternative to standard TMDL implementation. An adaptive implementation
approach would prioritize high priority clean up actions that have the highest certainty of
success. This is an alternative to a standard TMDL where the responsibility of clean up
actions generally falls to permit holders that have the ability to adopt technological solutions.
At the same time as the PSG was working on developing an adaptive implementation
strategy for addressing 303(d) listings, another group, the Yakima Ecosystem Services (YES)
Group, was promoting the idea of using an Ecosystem Services Market, or Environmental
Market, to prioritize and fund restoration activities. These activities, such as floodplain
restoration, could be used as a tool to preserve and restore water quality functions of
ecosystems in the Yakima Basin. Markets are being used to accelerate river restoration
elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, such as in the Willamette Basin, and in other parts of the
country.
Both groups, the PSG and the YES Group were working with the South Central Washington
RC&D Council and had overlap in their membership while sharing a similar goal: identify
successful and proactive ways to continue cleaning up the Yakima River. In the spring of
2011, the South Central Washington RC&D Council, in an effort to provide efficiency and
focus in the development of an Ecosystem Services Market, created the Yakima Basin Clean
Water Partnership Committee.
COMMITTEE ROLE IN YAKIMA BASIN CLEAN WATER EFFORTS
The Committee was formed to fill a niche that will help reach clean water goals of both the
Council and other organizations in the Yakima River Basin more cost and time effectively and
efficiently. Our unique role is to help provide:





Cleaner water faster using a market-based approach, with a focus on the Yakima
River Basin.
A proactive and results oriented group.
Grass roots, locally-led, and voluntary participation.
Accountability, transparency, inclusiveness, and credibility.
An adaptive management approach.
In addition, the Committee was formed to help bring together cutting edge science, political
resources, and collaboration to improve water quality work in Yakima River Basin.
COMMITTEE / SUBCOMMITTEE STRUCTURE
The South Central Wa. RC&D Council is the governing body of the non-profit organization.
All final decisions regarding funding and activity obligations or contracts must be made by
them.
The Yakima Basin Clean Water Partnership is the RC&D Committee that provides policy
and direction regarding all committee and sub-committee activities. They are responsible for
gathering community and statewide support, providing direction, and shaping policy. They
chair of the committee reports directly to the RC&D Council and will be responsible for
ensuring that they have adequate information to make decisions.
The Technical Sub-Committee is a working body that is responsible for gathering
information from outside organizations, contractors, and other members of public. They
oversee projects and carry out direction provided by the larger committee. They are
responsible to report all activities to the larger committee and cannot make financial or policy
decisions on behalf of the committee or RC&D. See Appendix A for a more detailed visual
schematic of the technical sub-committee.
South Central Washington RC&D Council
(501 (c) 3 non-profit)
Information
Direction
Funds Spent /
Funds Received
Yakima Basin Clean Water Partnership
Non-Committee Associates
& Partners
VOLUNTEERS
Information
Information
Direction
Information
(Committee)
Clean Water Technical
Sub-Committee
Information
CONTRACTORS
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
The Committee has identified six Strategic Priorities that will guide decision making regarding
project selection and committee activities. In addition, committee members that are
responsible to lead each priority are identified). They are:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Technical Tools
Market Based Strategies
Policy Guidance and Influence
Regional Collaboration
Education & Outreach
Operations & Funding
Each strategy will be addressed in this document and will have goals, benchmarks, timelines,
and action items identified for implementation.
PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL
It will be the charge of the Committee to review and approve each project to ensure it meets
the Committee Mission and addresses at least one of the Strategic Priorities. Most projects
will be initially designed and/or reviewed by the Technical SubCommittee. Once ready it will
be submitted to the Committee for final review and approval / rejection.
There are five initial criteria that must be met for a project to be adopted. They include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Project must be financially feasible for the committee.
Project must achieve water quality objectives.
Project must have a reasonable chance of success.
Project must accomplish mission and vision.
Project must be better than an existing solution.
In addition to these criteria, the Committee will use a tool called a ‘Goals Grid’, developed
during their first Strategic Planning session on June 24, 2011. This Goals Grid will be
reviewed and modified annually. The Goals Grid will help the Committee decide whether a
project will achieve, preserve, avoid or eliminate conditions that will increase success of
Committee Strategic Priorities.
In addition to helping select projects, this Goals Grid will serve the Committee as a roadmap,
an evaluation tool, for partner seeking, for public communication / education, for funding
requests, and for selecting methodology for various activities.
Appendix A. The make-up and schematic of the Clean Water Technical Sub-Committee (as of 9/23/11) is:
Yakima Basin Clean Water Partnership
(RC&D Committee)
Answers
Questions
Clean Water Technical Sub-Committee
City of Yakima - Ryan Anderson
Port of Sunnyside - Bob Ferrell
Consultant - Thomas Coleman
Yakama Nation - Tom Elliot
Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board - Yuki Reiss and Alex Conley
Kittitas County Water Purveyors - Kat Satnick
Roza-Sunnyside Board of Joint Control - Elaine Brouillard
Yakima Joint Board - David Child
WDOE - Jane, Lane, Sanjay, Charlie
Washington Water Trust - Jason McCormick
Benton Conservation District - Marcella Appel, Mark Neilson
Kittitas Conservation District - Anna Lael? Other
North Yakima Conservation District - Mike Tobin
Mid Columbia Fish Enhancement Board - Becca Wassel
Yakima County, Joel Freudenthal - Karen Hodges, Brian Cochrane
Questions
Work Plans
RFPs, Cooperative Research Agreements
VOLUNTEERS
CONSULTANTS
Answers
Reports, Data, etc
UNIVERSITIES
USGS, USBR, USEPA