Fed grant funding to help West Canal, Yakima River

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A pair of federal grants will help save fish on a stretch of the Yakima River and allow for the replacement of a 1,500-foot-long section of the Columbia Basin Project’s West Canal, according to a press release from Sen. Maria Cantwell’s, D–Wash., office.

According to the press release, the Bureau of Reclamation has awarded more than $4.1 million to replace and rebuild a section of the West Canal, which provides irrigation water to the customers of the Quincy Columbia Basin Irrigation District. Originally built between 1946 and 1955, the affected portion of the canal has significant leaks, the press release said.

The canal provides water to farmers and other users in Soap Lake, Ephrata, Quincy, George, Royal City and parts of Moses Lake.

A second grant for $3 million will modify the Roza Dam on the Yakima River, making it easier for fish to get through and avoid a dangerous part of the dam, the press release noted. Previous changes to the dam allowed for the return of Chinook salmon fishing on a downstream portion of the Yakima River in 2022, according to the press release.

The grants come as part of $8 billion for water improvements in the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure and Investment Act passed by Congress and signed into law in late 2021.