Nelson Dam.
David Brown: Drought-Resistant Water Supplies for Yakima
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Kris Polly: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. David Brown: I started in the water and wastewater business in 1972 at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita
8 | IRRIGATION LEADER
Falls, Texas, where I went to school. I worked in water and wastewater at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas; Lajes Field in the Azores; Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana; and Fort Benton, Montana. I came to Yakima as the water treatment plant supervisor and worked my way up to assistant public works director. I have been here for 35 years now. Kris Polly: Please tell us about the City of Yakima’s Water/ Irrigation Division and its history. David Brown: The city of Yakima was founded in the late 1800s near what is now Union Gap. The city moved north to its current location as North Yakima, eventually changing its name back to Yakima. The water and irrigation systems were served by the local power company as a for-profit venture. In 1926, the city bought the water and irrigation systems and took over operations and maintenance. Drinking water treatment moved from Oak Flats, some 17 miles northwest of Yakima, to the
PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY OF YAKIMA WATER/IRRIGATION DISTRICT.
he City of Yakima’s Water/Irrigation Division provides drinking water and urban irrigation services to around 70,000 urban drinking water users and around 30,000 urban irrigation users. Currently dependent on water from snowpack, the city is implementing aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) strategies as climate change shifts winter precipitation toward rain instead of snow. The city is also working to replace Nelson Dam with a roughened channel diversion, reducing flood risks while benefitting endangered wildlife. In this interview, David Brown, the assistant public works director and manager of the Water/Irrigation Division, speaks with Irrigation Leader Editor-in-Chief Kris Polly about the division’s services and current projects.