As Pacific Northwest growers look for ways to stretch their reduced irrigation allotments during the worst drought in decades, all steps that conserve water–no matter how small–should be considered. One of the areas hardest hit by the lack of winter precipitation is land in central Washington irrigated by the Yakima River Basin Irrigation Project. Two irrigation districts operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation–Kittitas and Roza–anticipate receiving between 8 and 28 percent of their normal water allotment, depending on spring rains and temperatures. The Roza Irrigation District, serving 72,000 acres in Yakima and Benton counties, will release detailed shut-down information […]