No Capacity at Elev. The Yakima Project provides irrigation water for a comparatively narrow strip of fertile land extending 175 miles on both sides of the Yakima and Naches River Systems in south-central Washington.
Irrigable lands total about one-half million acres.
Hydroelectric power is generated with much of the power used for pumping irrigation water and the surplus delivered to a power pool within the Bonneville Power Administration. An effort is made to provide fisheries flows at strategic points in the system as required by fisheries interests. Incidental recreational benefits are realized in the forms of camping, swimming, boating, and fishing. There are 7 major irrigation divisions within the Yakima Project, including storage, Kittitas, Yakima-Tieton, Sunnyside, Roza, Kennewick, and Wapato. The Wapato Division is operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but receives most of its water supply from the Yakima Project for irrigation of 136,000 acres of land.