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--_ ~` ~~ Water spreading During planning for the water exchange, it became evident that the irrigation districts had allowed significant unauthorized project water deliveries outside district bound- aries. Such deliveries have the potential for impacting the exchange program. Reclamation has been working with the districts since 1991 to resolve the unauthorized water use. Since 1995, one-year temporary water service contracts, which include mitigation measures, have been negotiated to allow water service to the out-of-boundary lands. 1996 legislation that would have settled the water spreading controversy died in Congressional committees. Whether new legislation will be introduced is unclear, but the NEPA process addressing this conflict is expected to be completed by 1998. If the conflict over unauthorized project water deliveries is finally resolved through either legislation or the NEPA process, success will also be measured in substantial funds saved by avoiding litigation. Umatilla River Basin Project, Oregon Since the early 1900s, the Umatilla River had been depleted by private and Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) irrigation projects, leaving inadequate water in the river for native fish. Complete dewatering and an array of dams in the lower Umatilla River blocked passage of anadromous fish to their headwater spawning grounds in and around the Umatilla Reservation, violating the provisions of the 1855 Treaty with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). Spring chinook, fall chinook and coho were extirpated from the river early in the century, and steelhead survived in remnant populations. In 1980, the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act mandated protection and restoration of anadromous fisheries in the Columbia River System. Under this act, the State of Oregon and the Bonneville Power Admin- istration (BPA) cooperated with the CTUIR to provide fish-rearing facilities and reestablish fish populations using innovative hatchery techniques. In 1986, ~mal~lla T oi,ona~ye Tree Mlle y Olvenion Oam Cold Sprrng Pumping Planf Rel;n Pump)ng „ ~~,~„1,., k ~ y I,~IIMd N E`" D venlon Oaml y ^ Westland IrnCal~rln Disaia Hermismn Irriganon Dlsaia ^ S~anfield Irrigatioli Disnitt sl,~eem Olvenion O,m y 22 the Corps of Engineers excavated alow- flow fish passage channel in the Umatilla River from Three Mile Falls Diversion Dam (TMFD Dam) to the mouth of the Umatilla River. By the fall of 1988, the BPA began constructing fish ladders and traps on the five irrigation district dams. At the urging of the CTUIR, local irriga- tors and the state of Oregon, Congress authorized the Umatilla Basin Project at a cost of over $42 million over 10 years to further mitigate losses to the fishery. Under this 1988 law, Reclamation developed a plan to begin restoring instream flows for anadromous fish while allowing estab- lished irrigation to continue. The plan set target instream flows for the Umatilla River to be achieved by reducing irrigation diversions from the Umatilla, while continuing to irrigate using replacement water from the Columbia River. Under the plan, Reclamation is responsible for design and construction of the project; BPA provides power for pumping water up to the agricultural fields from the Columbia River. Columbia River replacement irrigation water is supplied through water exchange facilities: ^ Pumping facilities in the Columbia River deliver up to 140 cubic feet per second (cfs) of Columbia River water for irrigation in the West Extension Irrigation District (WEID) under Phase I of the project. ^ In exchange, WEID reduces its with- drawals of Umatilla River flows from TMFD Dam at critical times of the year, facilitating adult fish return and juvenile out-migration. ^ At the same time, irrigation is unim- paired since bucket-for-bucket exchange water is diverted directly from the Columbia River into the WEID irriga- tion canal.