Water Relief for Columbia Basin

SEATTLE — Legislation to provide the largest new influx of water to towns and farms in the Columbia Basin in three decades was signed Thursday by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The bill will allow Lake Roosevelt, behind Grand Coulee Dam, to be drawn down an additional 82,500 acre-feet a year and as much as 132,000 acre-feet in drought years. The water will be split among municipalities, farms and for survival of endangered salmon.

The releases are a first step under a bill passed in 2006 to find new water supplies for growing communities in the region.

Read more here.

Source : The Seattle Times