{"id":868,"date":"2025-11-13T16:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T00:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/?page_id=868"},"modified":"2025-11-13T16:25:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T00:25:22","slug":"water-rights-in-the-yakima-river-basin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/water-rights-in-the-yakima-river-basin\/","title":{"rendered":"Water Rights in the Yakima River Basin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Student project by Zoe Pfeifer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Yakima River Basin in central Washington is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the United States. However, limited water supplies\u2014especially during drought years\u2014have made water rights a critical issue for farmers, tribes, communities, and ecosystems. Water is allocated based on a seniority system, meaning some users receive full water deliveries while others face significant cutbacks during times of water shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Different Water Rights<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-row wsu-row--thirds\" >\r\n    \n<div class=\"wsu-column\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tribal Reserved Rights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Not subject to reduction during shortages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oldest and most senior claims to water<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Water use includes fisheries, cultural practices, irrigation, and habitat needs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-column\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Senior Rights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Higher likelihood of receiving full water allocation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Older farms (pre-1905)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Commonly grown trees, hops, and other crops that require a consistent and reliable water supply<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n<div class=\"wsu-column\"  style=\"\">\r\n\t\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Junior Rights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Reduced amount of water<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Newer farms (1905-present)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Growing crops such as alfalfa and corn which are considered flexible because they can be planted annually and are more tolerant of fluctuating water supplies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Policies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yakima River Basin Water Rights (RCW.90.38, RCW.90.42)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This provides the legal foundation for managing water in the Yakima River Basin through the<br>Trust Water Rights Program, which allows water to be conserved or transferred while<br>keeping its original priority date. The law also enables conservation contracts and guides<br>the Integrated Water Resource Management Plan, which coordinates efforts around<br>storage, habitat restoration, and flexible water sharing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Water Markets &amp; Reallocation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Yakima Basin Integrated Plan allows water rights to be traded or leased, which<br>allows users temporarily or permanently shift water\u2014for example, from farms to cities or to<br>support river ecosystems. This flexibility helps reduce economic losses during droughts and<br>encourages more adaptive, cooperative water-sharing across the basin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yakima County Water Resource System (YCWRS)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A local program ensuring new developments demonstrate legal water availability (e.g. for<br>exempt wells) via mitigation and water purchase strategies consistent with Basin<br>priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tribal Rights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Court rulings have affirmed Yakama Nation&#8217;s in-stream fish rights with \u201ctime immemorial\u201d<br>priority, reinforcing the environmental protection component of water law in the basin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to differences in water rights, farmers with junior rights often face serious challenges during drought years. In 2021, junior water right holders received only 43% of their expected water allocation, forcing many to leave fields unplanted and suffer significant income losses. Meanwhile, senior water right holders continued to receive their full allotment, highlighting the growing disparity in access during times of shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading  wsu-heading--style-marked\">References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/ecology.wa.gov\">ecology.wa.go<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/ecology.wa.gov1\">v<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/leg.wa.gov\">leg.wa.gov<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/yakimabasinintegratedplan.org\">yakimabasinintegratedplan.org<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/usbr.gov\">usbr.gov<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/yakimacounty.us\">yakimacounty.us<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/nap.nationalacademies.org\">nap.nationalacademies.org<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/moderator.droughtreporter.unl.edu\/RSSfeed\/ImpactView\/60170\">https:\/\/moderator.droughtreporter.unl.edu\/RSSfeed\/ImpactView\/60170<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usbr.gov\/newsroom\/news-release\/5112\">https:\/\/www.usbr.gov\/newsroom\/news-release\/5112<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Student project by Zoe Pfeifer &#8211; <\/p>\n<p>The Yakima River Basin in central Washington is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the United States. However, limited water supplies\u2014especially during drought years\u2014have made water rights a critical issue for farmers, tribes, communities, and ecosystems. Water is allocated based on a seniority system, meaning some users receive full water deliveries while others face significant cutbacks during times of water shortages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_wsuwp_accessibility_report":null},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/868\/revisions\/880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsuwp.tricities.wsu.edu\/inef\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}