News Release Archive

Media Advisory: Spotlighting Yakima Basin Partnerships

Media Contact: John Redding, (208) 378-5212, jredding@usbr.gov
Tim McCoy, timmcoy@usbr.gov

For Release: June 01, 2012

YAKIMA, Wash. - The spotlight will be on a new, highly efficient water delivery system designed to meet agricultural and environmental needs today and for generations to come.

Who: The Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District (SVID), Bureau of Reclamation, Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), and the Yakama Nation.

What: Completion of Phase I Sunnyside Canal Improvement Project authorized under the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project (YRBWEP) Water Conservation Program. The project includes: replacement of 30 manually-operated check structures with fully automated gates; construction of three re-regulation reservoirs; and the installation of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for efficient water operations from a central location.

When: June 6, from 10 am - 12:30 pm

Where: The event will take place at Reregulation Reservoir 37.10 adjacent to the Sunnyside Canal near Route 241 and Van Belle Road, about 2 miles northeast of Sunnyside, Wash.

Why: Celebrating the completion a nine-year, $45 million water conservation project designed to improve irrigation deliveries and in-stream flows for fish in the Yakima River.

How: For details contact Tim McCoy, YRBWEP manager, (509) 575-5848 (#209) or Jim Trull, SVID manager, (509) 837-6980.

Event Speakers and Activities:

Jim Trull, SVID District Manager, will introduce the guest speakers which include:

• Robert Golob, chairman of Sunnyside Division Board of Control; Yakama Nation representative invited; Tom Tebb, Ecology Central Regional Office director; Bill Gray, Reclamation Columbia-Cascades Area manager; and Lorri Lee, Reclamation Pacific Northwest Regional Director

• A keyboard stroke by Regional Director Lee will turn the system on to underscore new technology and efficiency.

• Educational displays and brochures explaining the construction, coordination, and the high-tech tools used to manage the system.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.