Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 4, 2005
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  Joye Redfield-Wilder, Department of Ecology, 509-575-6210; Steve Suagee, Colville Tribes, 509-634-2381

Gov. Gary Locke, Colville Tribes Sign Lake Roosevelt Water Agreement

Gov. Gary Locke, Colville Tribal Chairman Joe Pakootas and state Fish and Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings today signed an agreement that will allow the state to obtain a intermittent releases of water from Lake Roosevelt, when needed, from April to August each year.

The agreement with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is an important component of Locke’s Columbia River Initiative, a new proposal for managing Columbia River water resources for the next 20 years.

“The Columbia River is under significant pressure to provide electricity, supply water for municipal growth, irrigate crops and nurture salmon at the beginning and end of their lives,” Locke said. “Through this agreement, the state and Colville Tribes are pledging to help manage the river in a sustainable way that benefits us all.”

Lake Roosevelt is the reservoir created by Grand Coulee Dam, and forms the southern and eastern boundary of the Colville Reservation. The agreement addresses the effects a new lake drawdown may have on tribal resources, including water supplies, lake fisheries, cultural resources, power revenues, exposure of lakebed contamination and potential harm to other tribal resources.

“Lake Roosevelt is an important resource to the Colville Tribes, and we have a very strong interest in any activity that affects it,” Pakootas said. “Grand Coulee Dam profoundly changed our way of life. We are pleased the state recognized this and approached us in such a positive manner regarding the new drawdown.”

Under the agreement, water will be released from the lake to support downstream fisheries, irrigation and municipalities, and to ease the effects of drought. The amount of water released will range from up to 82,500 acre-feet (1 foot of lake elevation) during a normal year to no more than 132,500-acre-feet (1.65 feet of lake elevation) during a drought year.

“This new agreement not only offsets further impacts to the Colville Tribes, but also recognizes a meaningful role for the Colville Tribes in Columbia River management policy,” Pakootas said.

On Dec. 17, the governor unveiled a plan calling for the investment of $79 million over the next 10 years to improve water conservation, develop new water-storage capacity, and acquire water for economic and environmental purposes in the Columbia Basin.

Also in December, the governor signed an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), to secure water to jumpstart the Columbia River water management program.

The state’s agreement with the Colville Tribes will make water stored in Lake Roosevelt and managed by USBR available to farmers whose rights now may be interrupted during drought and for new and future municipal uses. A portion also would be dedicated to improving river flows for fish migration.

In all, the Columbia River Initiative identifies some 728,000 acre-feet of water to meet the region’s needs for the next 20 years. The plan’s water acquisition program would meet the needs of all outstanding Columbia River water-right requests pending before the state Department of Ecology and provide a reserve for the region’s forecasted water needs.

Ecology has filed a rule proposal to govern how the regulatory portion of the water management program would be implemented. More information on the proposal, agreements, and information on the economic and science studies supporting the plan may be found on-line at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cri/crihome.html.

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