KID Announces $58M Conservation Plan

KID touts 10-year, $58M water saving plan
BY JOHN TRUMBO, TRI-CITY HERALD STAFF WRITER
Published: 05/23/09

Kennewick Irrigation District officials have a $58 million water conservation plan they believe not only will save water and help fish, but also improve service.
An added bonus to the 10-year plan, which would tap the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for most of the money, is it could help the 55,000-acre district make the transition from being an agency that historically served mostly farmers to one that increasingly strains to satisfy thousands of urban water customers.
Urbanization has become KID's biggest obstacle to customer satisfaction, as evidenced by years of rising rates with no measurable improvement in service.
But Scott Revell, interim district manager, said a big investment in consolidating pumping stations, piping open canals and building reservoirs would make KID's distribution system more efficient and capable of handling changing water demands.
If the improvements bring the district's 21,000 customers water delivered on time, with fewer outages and at an affordable price, more of them would be happy, he said.
The plan, laid out in a 165-page report approved by the KID board in December, would seek $38 million from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, with KID and Washington State Department of Ecology each paying about $10 million.
The next step is to do a feasibility study over the next 8 to 12 months. KID is searching for a consultant to do the study, which could cost about $300,000. The bureau would cover about $218,000, with KID paying $55,000 and the Department of Ecology paying the remaining $37,000, Revell said.
The study will make KID eligible for millions in bureau money through the Yakima River Water Enhancement Program, and would determine priorities for conservation projects.
Seven projects are proposed for the next five years. Each involves adding storage capacity within KID's far-flung canal system or a combination of new piping and pressurization to make water deliveries more consistent. The projects are:
* Adding an in-flow reservoir in the Division IV canal southwest of 45th Avenue and Olympia Street and building a centralized pumping station for $4.2 million. Planned for 2009, if possible.
* Extending the South Edison Street pipeline north of 8th Avenue to eliminate about 3,000 feet of open canal. This would eliminate seepage and evaporation and give more efficient flow. Cost would be $950,000. Planned for 2010.
* A new central pumping station near the Creekstone subdivision south of 10th Avenue would eliminate need for numerous pumps in pressurized service areas in central Kennewick. The Highland Feeder Canal through Creekstone would be widened, deepened and lined to form a 2,600-foot in-flow reservoir. Five miles of a lateral canal would be piped to prevent water losses and improve flow. Cost would be $9 million. Planned for 2010.
* Consolidation of pumps for east Kennewick would involve a new larger pump station near Zintel Canyon that would draw from a 3-acre-foot reservoir. It would eliminate three miles of canal and cost $9.6 million. Planned for 2011.
* Pressurizing piping in the Amon wasteway area on the west side of Kennewick would provide for future development and eliminate water losses. Cost would be $9 million. Planned for 2011.
* Consolidating pumps for the Badger East system would cost $21.9 million. A new pump station near the Amon reservoir west of Meadow Springs subdivision would tie in with an Amon in-flow reservoir and eliminate numerous smaller pumping stations. About 12 miles of piping would replace a portion of the Badger East canal to conserve water. Planned for 2012.
* Building an in-flow reservoir for the Amon system would cost $3.9 million. It would allow the district to regulate flow based on demand and prevent some water loss. Planned for 2013.
The consultants estimated water savings from all of the projects at about 28,000 acre-feet, which is about 27 percent of the 102,000 acre-feet allotted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to KID. An acre-foot is enough water to cover one acre 12 inches deep.
Water saved would remain in the Yakima River to benefit fish. The consultants' report said the improvements also would mean less chance of contaminants accumulating in the KID system and ending up in the Columbia River as operational spill.
The consultants said replacing dozens of smaller pump stations with just five larger and more efficient pump stations also would produce $307,000 in annual energy savings.
Other projects to eliminate water losses and operational spill are planned in the second five-year period. Most would replace open ditches with piping.