The City of Yakima (City) has a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) for 6,011.5 acre-feet of water as part of our domestic and irrigation water supply (one of the several water rights the City owns). Although the City does not physically receive water from the Kachess Reservoir, BOR operates five reservoirs supplying the Yakima Valley as one large reservoir. As a result, the City is obligated to pay its share of repairs of the Kachess Dam. Over the past several years, BOR has corresponded with the City regarding construction work at Kachess Dam required to correct the safety deficiencies identified by BOR’s Safety of Dams (SOD) Program as authorized by the Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978, as amended.
The costs of construction of the Kachess Dam SOD modification are subject to Federal funding procedures and repayment requirements. Pursuant to the SOD Act and Reclamation policy, the reimbursable project purposes are required to repay 15 percent of the total SOD modification cost, with the remaining 85 percent being nonreimbursable and borne by the United States Treasury. Each Yakima Project Storage Division contractor is then responsible for repaying its respective share of the 15 percent reimbursable portion of the total SOD modification cost. The total cost of the SOD modification work at Kachess Dam is currently estimated at $37 million, with the 15 percent reimbursable portion estimated to be $5.55 million.
The reimbursable project purposes are Irrigation and Municipal and Industrial (M&I) water supply and, based on the proportional net present benefits evaluated in the Kachess Dam Safety of Dams Economic Benefits Analysis Report, the $5.55 million reimbursable construction costs are allocated 93 percent to Irrigation water supply ($5,161,500 = $5,550,000 x 0.93) and 7 percent to M&I water supply ($388,500 = $5,550,000 x 0.07).
Based on the amount of contracted Yakima Project Storage Division water provided, the City’s share is 44.18758 percent of the $388,500 allocated to M&I water supply. Thus, the City’s estimated repayment obligation is approximately $171,669 (44.18758% of $388,500), subject to actual final SOD modification costs.
Attached is a repayment contract for the repayment of the City's proportionate share of the costs for the Safety of Dams modification work at Kachess Dam. The City’s estimated repayment obligation is $171,669 over a five-year period; 60% allocated to domestic water and 40% allocated to irrigation supply. The amount to be paid is $56,651 in 2023, $92,701 in 2024, $11,330 in 2025, $6,009 in 2026 and a final payment estimated at $4,978 in 2027.