(The Center Square) – Containment has jumped to 49% on the Retreat Fire east of Rimrock Lake in south central Washington, as firefighters secured lines around the communities of Cowiche and Tieton.
But the fire, which started July 23, has severely damaged the 114-year-old Yakima-Tieton Irrigation Canal.
Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District Manager Travis Okelberry said he knew it was going to be bad from day one of the fire.
“The report was it was moving down the canyon and I knew it would move right in line with our canal,” Okelberry told The Center Square. “The cause of the fire was a propane tank explosion at a cabin in a small community called Rimrock Retreat, just down the highway from our diversion dam.”
He said the district has a house where a canal patrolman lives, and he walks the 12-mile canal every day.
“Two cabins were lost and the fire just inundated our diversion dam and we lost power almost immediately,” he said, while crediting his staff and their families for doing everything they could to stop the flames.
Growers in the YTID have already suffered consequences as canal water levels had to be lowered, resulting in the rationing water.
They have been allowed to irrigate for five days on, then two days off. Last week, they faced a three-day water shutoff for repairs.
The fire, though still burning, is no longer a danger to the canal system, but the damage has been done.
Giant boulders have rolled down and smashed into the canal, and trees and other debris litter the burn area along the structure.
Once the rainy season comes, the system will face new challenges related to landslides and debris flows.
“Our canal is an 8-foot-wide diameter horseshoe shaped flume, so it’s open on top and the first six miles runs through a heavily forested area, with steep hillsides,” Okelberry explained. “The lower half gets out onto a cliff, dug into active landslide material, and it’s been there serving the Yakima community for 114 years.”
The YTID now encompasses approximately 35,000 acres. The irrigated lands are predominately – 75% – fully developed orchard, with the remainder for residential use and pastureland.
Beyond the immediate work to clear the debris and begin repairs, the canal system needs rebuilding.
“Because of the location, the construction of it took over three years and the Bureau of Reclamation had over 600 people building that canal with federal funding,” said Okelberry.
The original system cost $1 million to build, the equivalent of more than $200 million currently.
Okelberry said he has been pleading for more than a decade for state and federal assistance for needed upgrades to the system.
“The important number to keep in mind here is that just the gross crop revenue (from district members) is estimated at $700 million annually into the state economy,” said Okelberry.
“If we had a complete canal failure for anything more than three to four weeks, it would be catastrophic,” he warned.
Okelberry said further action is needed to ensure crops are safe from preventable fire spread.
“What we need now is help from experts, on how we stabilize the soil and what can we do to bring those hazard trees down,” Okelberry said.
YTID also provides emergency services with its water used in protecting critical infrastructure, including schools.