Comment Period Opens For Yakima Nitrate Plan

The Washington State Department of Ecology continues to search for answers for the problem of nitrates in lower Yakima valley groundwater. The department's Joy Redfield-Wilder says the Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Advisory Committee approved a draft program on last year and moved with 64 recommendations to reduce nitrates in the Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Management Area. "The advisory group has been working on drafting some recommendations on how to reduce nitrates in groundwater in this area of the lower valley since 2012."
Redfield-Wilder says the most recent information shows 12 percent of private drinking water wells in the management area don’t meet federal drinking water standards.
The draft Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Management Program can be viewed online, or at ecology’s central regional office, 1521 W. Alder St., Union Gap, during regular business hours.
A public hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on March 12 at the Sunnyside Community Center, 1521 S. First St.