Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region

Cle Elum Pool Raise Project

A Component of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan

The Cle Elum Pool Raise Project will increase water storage capacity in the Cle Elum Reservoir up to an additional 14,600 acre-feet. This project is part of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, a long-term ecosystem restoration plan to restore aquatic functions and provide increased reliability of water resources in the Yakima River basin. When the pool raise project is completed, the additional water will be dedicated to enhancing instream flows for fish rearing, fish habitat, and migration.

The Cle Elum Dam and Reservoir was built in 1933 to advance the mission of the Yakima Project. This pool raise project is the first new water storage project in the Yakima Basin in more than 80 years. Congress specifically authorized the project in Sections 1205 and 1206 of the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-434, Title XII, Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project. Reclamation and Ecology released the Cle Elum Pool Raise Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) in May 2015; the Record of Decision was signed in June 2015.

To understand further how the Cle Elum Pool Raise is tied to the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, see the Seven Elements Map and the Yakima River Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan Final Programmatic EIS online at https://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/yrbwep/2011integratedplan/index.html.