AWRA-WA March 2018 Seattle Dinner Meeting

When
27 Mar 2018
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Location
Ivar’s Salmon House on Lake Union 401 NE Northlake Way Seattle, Washington
Spaces left
11
Registered
28 registrants

Registration

Guest – $40.00
Member – $30.00
Student

Registration is closed

The American Water Resources Association Washington Section

invites you to

The Snoqualmie Watershed Improvement District Water Bank: Providing Water for Farms

presented by
Cynthia Krass, Snoqualmie Valley Watershed
Improvement District (SVWID) and
Amanda Cronin, AMP Insights
on
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
at

Ivar's Salmon House

401 NE Northlake Way, Seattle, WA 98105

Social and Networking - 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Dinner - 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM
Presentation - 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Abstract

As in most basins in Washington State, water is a critical issue in the Snoqualmie Watershed. In the winter farms have too much water due to flooding and in the summer many farms lack access to legal water rights for irrigation. The Snoqualmie Valley Watershed Improvement District launched the Snoqualmie Water Bank in 2017 to ensure water availability for present and future irrigated agriculture within the Snoqualmie Valley. The Bank which is the first of its kind in Washington State offers water rights for lease to farms across their 14,000 acre service area. Securing new water rights is a notoriously difficult task and the bank has taken some creative approaches for securing and marketing water rights. In 2017 the Snoqualmie water Bank conducted Washington's State's first two way water right auction between buyers and sellers which resulted in water use agreements with six farm sites, serving a dozen farm operations. The Bank continues to grow its programs and supply water for Snoqualmie Valley farmers in a way the respects instream flows and resources. This presentation will describe the process that the Snoqualmie Valley Watershed Improvement District went through to form the bank, the 2017 water right auction and current and potential future bank programs.

About the speakers

Cynthia Krass is the Executive Director of the Snoqualmie Valley Watershed Improvement District (SVWID), formed in December 2015 to address water rights and agricultural drainage. A land use professional, Cynthia's involvement in water rights stems from her work to tackle land use and regulatory barriers to agricultural production in the Snoqualmie Valley. Cynthia has a Master of Urban Planning, and a previous career in marketing and advertising.

Amanda Cronin, is a Manager at AMP Insights. Amanda is a Washington State native with over fourteen years of professional experience in water rights, water transactions, stream restoration and conservation program design and implementation. At AMP Insights, Amanda specializes in water resource policy and planning, environmental water transactions and water banking. Before joining AMP Insights, Amanda was a Project Manager at the Washington Water Trust for 11 years and a Watershed Program Coordinator at the Idaho-based Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute for 2 years. At the Washington Water Trust, Amanda worked across Washington State to develop and implement water right acquisitions for environmental flow restoration and groundwater mitigation and she also led the development of the Walla Walla and the Dungeness Water Exchanges for the Water Trust. Amanda holds a B.A. from Whitman College and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Northern Arizona University.

Fees

$30 for current members

$40 for guests

Free for students (Reserved for student members enrolled full-time, as outlined on the AWRA-WA website, waawra.org)

If you are planning to pay in person at the event, please note that we can only accept payment then in the form of cash or a check. If you want to pay using PayPal or a credit card, please do so online before the event.

Registration as a guest is available if you are not a member of AWRA-WA.

Cancellation Policy: AWRA-WA will fully refund the registration fee if cancellation notice is received at least 5 days before the event.

Questions about the website? Please contact the Webmaster: waawra.webmaster@gmail.com.