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Yakima River Basin
The Yakima River drains an area of nearly 6,000 square miles in Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties in central and south-central Washington. The river originates near Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains and flows east and southeast 175 miles to its confluence with the Columbia River, near Richland. The Yakima River Basin is subject to winter floods from rainfall and spring floods from snowmelt.
Yakima River at Ellensburg
Authorized Flood Control Project, Terminated (Seattle District)
The project would provide levee protection along the Yakima River in the vicinity of Ellensburg. Federal cost is estimated to be $1,500,000. Kittitas County agreed to sponsor the project. A restudy report was completed in 1972 recommending reactivation of the levee project. Reactivation studies, initiated in 1979, indicated that flooding and development are such that the levee project is not economically feasible. The project was deauthorized November 1986.
Yakima River, Vicinity of Yakima
Completed Flood Control Project (Seattle District)
A system of levees with drainage and control structures extends from the Moxee highway bridge across the Yakima River to the Burlington Northern railroad bridge upstream from the confluence of the Yakima and Naches Rivers. These levees provide flood protection for the city of Yakima, its suburban area, and lands on the east bank of the Yakima River. The project was completed in 1948 at a federal cost of $381,961 and was turned over to local interests for operation and maintenance. Flood damages prevented through September 1998 totaled $12,374,000.
Yakima River, West Richland
Completed Flood Control Project (Seattle District)
A levee and pumping stations were constructed on the right bank of the Yakima River between river mile 7.7 and 8.8 to provide protection for West Richland and vicinity. The project was completed in May 1963 at a federal cost of $239,000.
Yakima -- Union Gap
Flood Damage Reduction Study, Terminated (Seattle District)
Flooding problems in the Yakima-Union Gap urban area along the Naches and Yakima Rivers were the subject of a feasibility study. The feasibility report and Environmental Impact Study were completed in 1977. The report was sent to Congress in September 1983. The recommended plan consists of raising and providing additional riprap for existing levees, constructing new levees, installing drainage control gates on existing culverts, and controlling development in unprotected lands.
Preconstruction Engineering and Design studies showed that due to hydraulic changes no project is economically feasible. Further studies were terminated in 1986.
Yakima Valley Regional Water
Management
Study Completed (Seattle District)
In 1973, the Corps of Engineers was requested to provide wastewater management planning assistance to Washington State and counties in the basin. The resulting study concentrated on Yakima basin water quality and wastewater management assistance to the Washington State Department of Ecology to help meet water quality planning responsibilities.
A Yakima Valley Regional Water Management Study was provided the Department of Ecology in 1978 for use in their November 1978 statewide 208 Plan. Study efforts were then suspended pending determination of study priorities by the state of Washington.
In 1980, the state requested Corps assistance in evaluating the potential for flood damage reduction associated with measures under consideration by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) in its Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project. Funding was received in fiscal year 1982 and a preliminary evaluation was made of the flood control potential of new and modified reservoirs under consideration by BOR. Study is now complete.
Toppenish Creek
Terminated Section 205 Small Flood Control Study (Seattle
District)
In June 1985, the Yakima Confederated Indian Nation requested federal assistance in providing flood protection for the reservation residents from Toppenish Creek. Reconnaissance studies indicated that no alternatives for flood damage reduction measures in the White Swan area were justified.
