Office of the Secretary Manager

Kittitas Reclamation District Board of Directors Meeting

October 3, 2017 Minutes

The Board of Directors of the Kittitas Reclamation District (KRD) met in Regular Session on October 3, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. Attending the meeting were Division One Director and Chairman Mark Hansen, Division Four Director and Vice Chairman Larry Bland, Division Three Director Fred Schnebly, and Division Two Director Ed Wakkuri, Division Five Director Paul Weaver, Secretary Manager Urban Eberhart, Assistant Manager Kevin Eslinger, Field Supervisor Bob Main, Treasurer Stacy Berg, GIS IT / Water Quality Specialist Roger Satnik, Lands Clerk & RRA Specialist Keli Bender and Legal Counsel Jeff Slothower. Also attending were United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Yakima Field Office Manager Chad Stuart and land owner Janeice Jump.

The agenda was approved with the addition of an executive session for reasons consistent with RCW 42.30.110(1)(i):(iii). The motion was made by Director Schnebly and the second was made by Director Wakkuri. The motion passed unanimously.

The minutes of the September 5, 2017 meeting were approved with a motion made by Director Bland and the second made by Director Wakkuri. The motion passed unanimously.

Water Update: Mr. Main reported that Kittitas Reclamation District (KRD) is currently diverting 954 cubic feet per second (cfs) of which 715 cfs is for KRD’s use. The reservoirs are at 33% capacity which is 121% of average. The district finished out the water year with 101% of average precipitation which is 230.62 combined inches at the USBR measurement sites.  

Summary Vouchers for the August 2017 expenses and the September 2017 payroll which included check numbers 41490 through 41586 and 41630, direct deposit numbers 9901207 through 9901224 and 9901229 through 9901246 in the sum of $246,058.30 were approved with a motion made by Director Weaver and the second made by Director Schnebly. The motion passed unanimously. The Directors’ monthly payroll vouchers were presented for signatures. Director Weaver made a motion to approve the vouchers, a second was made by Director Bland. The motion passed unanimously and  the checks were distributed.

Maintenance Update: Mr. Main reported that the construction of the Tillman Supplementation Permanent delivery system is complete. Photos of the finished project were provided. The Surplus Vehicle Auction concluded October 2, 2017. If all of the potential buyers purchase the vehicles the vehicles will return approximately $10,000. KRD employees are in the process of building weir blades and prepping head gate material to be used when the water is turned off. There are approximately 4 days worth of fall spraying before it is complete. Employees are working on the canal right away gates to square off the end of the gates. KRD is documenting the weep drain flows to identify the higher loss areas to determine the best locations for the Aqualastic application.   

Public Comment: USBR Yakima Field Office Manager Chad Stuart attended and provided a synopsis of what the USBR is currently working on. Now that the water level is lower at the reservoirs, the USBR is are working on debris and stump removal, cleaning up the sites, doing work on spillways and weep holes. Since there was such a heavy spring flow there is a lot of debris pushed up against the dam so the USBR is trying to collect the debris and remove it before it damages or plugs up the spillway. There is a River Operations Meeting scheduled for tomorrow. There is an above average carry over. USBR is hoping for a good snow pack and a good water year. Pat Monk was hired as a Fish Biologist. The hiring of the assistant Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project (YRBWEP) Manager Position is still in process. The Cle Elum fish passage facilities project is moving forward. The tunnel contract was just awarded. The USBR is hopeful that the intake and helix structure will be awarded before the end of the year. The whooshh innovations system was tested. There were approximately 120 fish that came through the facility which is 1700 feet long and 150 feet high and has a selector that reads the fish then sorts them. The population for the Sockeye was low this year so this wasn’t a good year for returning fish. The USBR is requesting continuation of this project through the next year. Mr. Stuart also discussed that there is a potential risk that to finish the construction on the helix they might have to release water in the future that they are unable to make up depending on the year that they install the inlet pipes. The USBR believes the possibility of this is pretty minimal. The contract is being written to have the construction in years 2019, 2020 or 2021 depending on the risk of the lack of water supply.

Secretary Manager’s Activity Report: The next Yakima Basin Integrated Plan Committee trip to Washington DC is scheduled for October 29, 2017. Director Wakkuri made a motion to approve the travel request for Mr. Eberhart. A second was made by Director Bland. The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Eberhart is a member of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee Columbia Basin Partnership and is scheduled to present in Silver Springs, MD to the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee in the last week of November 2017. Director Bland made a motion to approve the travel to Maryland. Director Weaver made the second. The motion passed unanimously.

There was discussion of the public disclosure policy and the expenses involved in collecting the requests.

Mr. Eberhart provided an update for the 2017 Tributary Supplementation Program. Currently Manastash is receiving 17 cfs, Tillman 3 cfs, Spexarth 3 cfs, Little Creek 12 cfs, Big Creek 6 cfs, Tucker 3 cfs, and Taneum 20 cfs. Water is also being run for flip flop, as of this morning there is 110 cfs being spilled at 11:46, 70 is being pushed around to Wipple, the turbine is sending 7 cfs back to the river and the Billeter at 1 ½ cfs.

A Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, Columbia Basin Task Force Meeting was held last week. Walter Larrick, Joe Zent and Mr. Eberhart provided a report for the Mid- Columbia Steelhead Prototype Team and went over the Yakima Integrated Plan to help raise awareness region wide.

The Ecology Water Marketing Request for Proposals also ties into the Water Smart Water Marketing Study. Last month it was reported that KRD was awarded the Water Smart grant for water marketing analysis and the state water resources portion is going to share in the cost. $430,000 is allocated for the water marketing study that will be conducted over the next couple years. KRD is working with various other entities on the proposed ecology grant for another water market study application which is due on October 24, 2017. There will be analysis of where the two grants overlap.

Tetra-Tech has the lead on the NB Canal Lining project which has bids due on October 5, 2017.  This lining project is being funded through a grant from USBR. The engineers estimate is $2.8 Million dollars for the project. There is a salmon recovery funding board application for another $300,000 that KRD is still working on the wording of the grant to make it consistent with the other projects that KRD has had with USBR and Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE).

KRD is working with Jacobs Engineering on the South Branch Canal Lining Phase II. It will include South Branch 9.9 lateral, South Branch 14.3 lateral and the South Branch extension.

There is $85,000 budgeted for Aqualastic and the locations for applications this fall are to be determined.  

The Easton Dam Drum Gate Carthotic Protection work is schedule to take begin in the first two weeks of November.  

The Upper Yakima System Storage Assessment Phase II process has Jacobs preparing the scope of work and KRD has asked USBR to support 5 Million Dollars in funding for the Upper Yakima System Storage Assessment. Mr. Eberhart stated this request is continuing to move through the USBR process. Mr. Eberhart stated he will continue to work on this.

Jacobs will be leading the process to get updated information for the Yakima Pressure Tunnel. Currently the valves at the top of this tunnel get clogged with debris which does not allow for an easy way for the debris to be cleared. Jacobs has recommended adding a valve and screen that would allow accessibility to shut off the valve and clean the screen without shutting down the canal when it needs to be cleaned.

KRD is continuing to work with USBR and the Kittitas County Conservation District and Ecology to agree on a way to operate the Manastash system.

Due to a scheduling conflict, Mr. Eberhart was unable to attend the meeting on the Manastash Ridge Trail.

KRD is working with USBR on the Taneum Heart K Bridge Project which is currently on hold. There are now discussions on whether it would be better to build an access off of Taneum Rd. Once a decision is made, KRD will assist as needed.

KRD is continuing to work on scheduling a meeting with the Kittitas County Weed District.

Once the water is shut off KRD will continue to work on finalizing the new Procurement Policy.

Legal Counsel Slothower reported that title reports have been received and the certificate of delinquency has been prepared and is ready to be filed. It appears in all the properties KRD will be working with a bank to resolve the assessments due. Next a foreclosure lawsuit will be drafted.

New Business: Mr. Eberhart reported that the second visit of the John Keys III Tour will be on October 17-18, 2017. The group will have the opportunity to tour the fish hatchery and additional projects around the district and the Yakima Basin. Mr. Stuart expressed his appreciation for the program and how beneficial it is to allow parties from all levels to see the process in its entirety. To allow the communications from both directions is beneficial for all sides.

The Board adjourned to Executive Session at 2:00 p.m. for 20 minutes per RCW 42.30.110(1)(i):(iii) there was a motion made by Director Wakkuri and a second made by Director Schnebly. The motion passed unanimously. The Executive Session was extended by 15 minutes. The Board returned to Regular Session at 2:35 p.m. with a motion made by Director Wakkuri and the second was made by Director Weaver. The motion passed unanimously.

Other Business: No new business

All business having been concluded the meeting was adjourned.

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Mr. Hansen KRD Board of Directors Chairman

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Mr. Eberhart KRD Secretary Manager