YAKIMA, Wash. – The Bureau of Reclamation’s April 2022 total water supply available forecast for the Yakima basin indicates the water supply will fully satisfy all senior users, while the junior water rights will receive an estimated 94% of their entitlements this irrigation season.
Precipitation was 109% of average from October through March and 73% of average for March. On April 1, the amount of water in the snowpack, known as snow water equivalent, was 73% of average in the upper Yakima and 76% in the Naches subbasins. Total Yakima Project reservoir storage on April 1 was 929,000 acre feet, 133% of average and 87% full.
Reclamation manages the water in the five Yakima Project storage reservoirs, along with the basin’s unregulated inflows to fulfill water rights, water contracts and instream flow obligations. Water shortages in the basin are shared equally by the junior water rights holders, which represent over half of the water rights in the basin.
Reclamation will provide an updated water supply forecast monthly—at least through July—using the latest data each month to reflect any changing conditions as they develop.
The April forecast is based on flows, precipitation, snowpack, and reservoir storage as of April 1, along with estimates of future precipitation and river flows. Other future weather conditions that determine the timing of the runoff and the demand for water also are critical in determining stream flows, the extent to which the reservoirs fill, and the water supply for irrigation.
For more information, visit Reclamation’s website at https://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/yakima/.