Conservation Workshop

The Conservation Workshop held on January 27th was a success! Nearly 50 people attended and learned more about conservation easements, transfer of development rights, and programs and assistance available through the KCCD and USDA NRCS. Thank you to all our speakers - Jill Arango (Cascade Land Conservancy), and Roylene Rides at the Door and Sarah Troutman-Zahn (NRCS). And an even bigger thank you to all the landowners who came to the workshop!

Attendees prepare for the mornings first session- "Conservation Easements 101".

Roylene Rides at the Door, NRCS State Conservationist, talks with Anna about the third session of the workshop.

We provided a "light lunch"- sandwiches, chips and cookies. We had 2 sandwiches to spare when it was all over, which was cutting it pretty close!

Roylene Rides at the Door talked about NRCS's programs that are available to local landowners. She was followed by Sarah Troutman-Zahn, NRCS's Resource Conservationist in the Ellensburg Field office.

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Elections

KCCD's annual election is scheduled for February 9th. One position on the Board is up for election and anyone who is a registered voter residing within the District boundaries may cast a ballot. The boundaries of the District are: all of the Incorporated areas of Kittitas County and the City of Cle Elum.

We'll have polling stations open from 10AM to 2PM at our office (607 E Mountain View, Ellensburg) and the City of Cle Elum Council Chambers (119 W 1st, Cle Elum). We are grateful for the assistance of volunteer polling officers recruited for us by the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).

Eligible voters who are unable to visit the polling station can request a mail-in ballot. Those requests can be made in-person, over the phone or via e-mail, so long we have enough information to verify that you are a registered voter residing within the District boundaries. Ballot requests must be made by 4:30 on February 2nd. Completed ballots must be received by the District at our office by 4:30PM on February 9th.

Volunteer polling officers counting ballots in the 2008 KCCD election

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Busy, Busy January!

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

We conducted our first Long Range planning meeting a week ago. A total of 18 participants (including Board and staff) attended. We completed a draft update to the five year plan. We will continue to refine that draft until the plan is completed in February. If you have comments or questions, please contact us. We'd love to hear from you.

On January 27th, we will be co-hosting a workshop for farmers and ranchers. It is an opportunity to learn more about conservation easements, Kittitas County's transfer of development rights (TDR) program, and the various technical and financial assistance programs available to landowners. We are pleased to announce that Roylene Rides at the Door is scheduled to attend this meeting. Roylene is the State Conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). She and members of her staff will be talking about their programs. I will present the KCCD's available programs and Jill Arango (Cascade Land Conservancy) will talk about conservation easements and the TDR. The meeting is scheduled for 10AM to 2PM at the Teanaway Hall, Kittitas County Events Center (aka the fairgrounds). Our co-hosts are the Cascade Land Conservancy and the NRCS. Click here to view the flier advertisting the workshop: http://kccd.net/Announcements/Workshop.JPG

Project Construction

The first really large pour took place at the MWDA/Consolidated diversion on Manastash Creek last Friday. The contractor poured the slab for the entire structure- it took more than 80 yards of concrete! This project is currently behind schedule, so this was great step. The next pour is the large wall on the creek side of the structure. It is scheduled for next Tuesday.

During the pour last Friday- this is looking upstream toward the headgate.

This is the slab on Monday morning. The screens will go in the frames in the center of the photo.

At Barnes Road, the work is now focused on backfilling around the structure and adding rock to the fish way. There is one small pour remaining, which is the foundation for the mechanical building. WDFW's Screen Shop will begin installing the fish screens next week.

The major pours are all done and Barnes Road.

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Manastash Project

Despite the weather, the Manastash Creek Restoration Project is making great progress.
At the Barnes Road site, there are only a couple more concrete pours to go. There is a big one underway today.

Barnes Road- last week's prep for today's concrete pour

At the MWDA diversion, there is a concrete pour planned for next week. This is the first large one and a big step forward for the project.

Preparing for next week's concrete pour at MWDA. The frame will hold the inclined fish screens.

A sprinkler conversion project has also been underway for a shareholder on the MWDA. The pivots are now assembled and work should be completed in the next month. This project resulted in 1.7 cfs in the Trust Water Rights program to benefit instream flow in Manastash Creek.

New center pivot sprinklers

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