Serving 4,600 acres in the Benton City area for nearly a century in relative obscurity, Benton is about to become one focus of salmon recovery, says TheSeattleTimes.
According to the news agency, the three-year, $16 million improvement project that starts next year to modernize a dilapidated and inefficient irrigation system will help farmers and yield benefits throughout the three-county irrigation project.
Coupled with a more ambitious improvement — and more expensive at $67 million — plan by the Sunnyside Division, the result will mean a substantial increase in the amount of water left in the lower Yakima River during the summer.
There, the river is a toxic brew for fish with high water temperatures and low flows that cause stress, disease and exposure to predators.
Seattle Project Saves Salmon Through Irrigation
US - A new irrigation project in Seattle hopes to begin a new era of salmon recovery by saving fish from toxic water and revitalising the local industry.