A landmark agreement was signed last week that opens the possibility that the first new water rights in decades could be granted to Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association members while assuring that flows for salmon and steelhead aren't diminished.

The first "voluntary regional agreement," approved by Washington's Department of Ecology and signed by the CSRIA July 18, focuses on conserving water. The association is developing proposals for three pilot projects that will test how much water can be saved in irrigation processes.

The savings would allow the issuance of drought permits to existing interruptible water right holders and new permanent water rights on the Columbia River and lower Snake River for like volumes.

Those new water rights cannot reduce or negatively impact Columbia stream flows in the months of July and August, a time when the river is at its low ebb. The new withdrawals cannot reduce Snake River flows during the April through August period.

To meet that standard of protection, the state agency and CSRIA will pursue conservation, storage, acquisition and other opportunities to provide new water to offset new withdrawals during the summer months.

The agreement stems from 2006 state legislation directing the agency to aggressively pursue development of Columbia basin water supplies to benefit both in-stream and out-of-stream uses through storage, conservation and voluntary regional water management agreements.

The bill also created a Columbia River Basin development account and authorized the issuance of up to $200 million in general obligation bonds to support enactment of the Columbia River water development and management program.

"The issuance of water rights would be based on the success of the program," said Joye Redfield-Wilder of the WDOE. Water savings would be logged as credits that could be transferred to participating interruptible water rights holders in drought years when their water supply would be cut off and allow expansion of senior water rights. The state has a backlog of several hundred water rights applications.

The state took a precautionary approach when beleaguered salmon and steelhead stocks began garnering Endangered Species Act protections in the 1990s. A moratorium on new water rights was imposed in the late 1990s to preserve existing in-stream flows for fish. That moratorium was later lifted but only a few new rights have been issued for projects that "show substantial environmental benefit," Redfield-Wilder said.

"We're finally done with it," CSRIA board representative Darryll Olsen said of the organization's long push for increased water rights. That fight included litigation that led to a settlement agreement and ultimately to the legislative mandate.

"We're breaking a past history of contention and litigation," Redfield-Wilder said of the new VRA.

"We've identified some conservation projects that we think will work pretty well," Olsen said.

The strategy expected to yield the first benefits is conservation operations and maintenance. There are ongoing projects by CSRIA members that involve fine tuning their irrigation scheduling and monitoring.

"There's a demonstrated savings of 10 to 15 percent," Olsen said. Those projects, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, could qualify for extra water rations.

"It goes back to the idea of awarding the efficient," Olsen said.

Other projects being considered include converting open diversion canals to piped, pressurized systems. Creating a small reservoir on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is also being explored, Olsen said.

In addition, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire announced two other Tri-City area water projects.

"Nowhere is water more essential to the environmental and economic welfare of a region than here," Gregoire said during a stop in Kennewick. "These projects will help protect an agriculture economy that generates $3.1 billion every year for the region. They will provide water that's absolutely essential for growth and development. These projects also ensure that we will have more water in the river for our endangered salmon during the driest months. This is a triple win for Eastern Washington families, businesses and the environment."

The projects approved will:

--- Allow early work on a major pump exchange project to bring water to Red Mountain and eventually double the flows in the lower Yakima River;

--- Test and pilot ways to store millions of gallons of Columbia River water in underground aquifers to be reallocated when communities and fish need it the most; and

The Kennewick Irrigation District received $95,000 from the state to study the feasibility of bringing new water to Red Mountain, which has been identified as a highly productive grape-growing area. This is the first installment of a $15 million state investment the district will receive.

The KID project will test the possibility of moving KID's withdrawal point from the Yakima River to the Columbia River, supporting the lower Yakima River stream flows and fisheries and eventually increasing irrigated acreage.

"Bringing water to Red Mountain will open up one of the state's prime viticultural areas and exponentially contribute to the state's already successful wine industry," said John Jaksch, KID board president. "In addition, the exchange of Yakima River for Columbia River irrigation water will materially increase in-stream flows in the lower Yakima, benefiting endangered salmon and steelhead runs in the river."

The city of Kennewick received more than $1 million to explore ways to capture water during the winter and store it in an underground aquifer, then reuse the water during the summer months. At least one-third of any stored water would be used to support stream flows for fish migration and spawning.

"An aquifer storage system provides the flexibility to meet the interests of both the city and state — to supply water to citizens and fish — particularly during critical flow periods on the Columbia River," said Kennewick City Manager Bob Hammond. "It also provides an important alternative water source on the west side of our city."