It鈥檚 September, so the hops harvest is in full swing in Washington鈥檚 Yakima Valley. At the Carpenter family鈥檚 farm in Granger, workers are making their way between rows of trellises, pulling down vines and feeding them into a sorting machine.
The Carpenter family has been growing hops in the Yakima Valley since the 1860s. Brad Carpenter, who helms the operation these days, said farmers in this dry valley depend on one thing: water.
鈥淲ater鈥檚 everything,鈥� Carpenter said. 鈥淲ithout water, you鈥檙e not going to see anything out here but sagebrush鈥� 鈥� certainly not the apples, cherries, pears and hops that contribute billions to Washington鈥檚 economy.
Here鈥檚 the problem: Most of the water Yakima Valley farmers use on their crops comes from the snowpack that builds each winter in the Cascade Mountains and then melts slowly through the spring and summer. And scientists say, with climate change making winters warmer, the snowpack is expected to shrink.
To solve that problem, Yakima鈥檚 farmers are trying to shore up access to water. They鈥檝e set their sights on Kachess Lake, one of the finger lakes just off Interstate 90 near Snoqualmie Pass.
To explain why they need a backup water source, most farmers hearken back to 2015. That year, the snowpack was of what it normally is. Brad Carpenter remembers: His farm was completely without water for three weeks.
鈥淚n the hops field, it probably cut our yields in half,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 really afford to have a 50 percent yield loss on a hop field, because of the cost to grow those hops.鈥�
The state estimates Roza Irrigation District farmers 鈥� which include the Carpenters 鈥� lost of crops that year.
Kachess Lake 鈥渨ould provide a supply of water that could be used in a drought year鈥� like 2015, said Scott Revell, the irrigation district鈥檚 manager.
Revell said the farmers are putting up $200 million for the infrastructure needed to move water from Kachess Lake to the Yakima Valley.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like an emergency-type scenario,鈥� he explained.
The plan to tap Kachess Lake is just one piece of a that aims to end the Yakima Valley鈥檚 water wars for agriculture, fish and people.
But perhaps it鈥檚 just the beginning of a new battle.
Kachess Lake is a little over an hour鈥檚 drive from Seattle. It鈥檚 such a popular spot that, on sunny summer weekends, cars have to line up and wait to get into the parking lot.
鈥淚t鈥檚 beautiful 鈥� the mountains and the trees,鈥� said Jessica Shearer, who was there to spend the weekend camping with her family. 鈥� excited to actually jump in.鈥�
Shearer said she hadn鈥檛 known there was a conflict over this lake before she came, but then she saw the 鈥淪ave Lake Kachess鈥� signs as she was driving in. She was immediately sympathetic.
鈥淚t certainly seems really special,鈥� she said, 鈥渟o it seems like in any case it should be conserved.鈥�
The person who鈥檚 been fighting the irrigation plan the hardest is Jay Schwartz.
Schwartz said he and his five kids come up to the lakeside cabin he built for his family 10 years ago for weekends year-round 鈥� even in the winter, when the bumpy, potholed forest service road to get there is impassable. Then, they park 2 miles down the road, stuff all their groceries into backpacks, and snowshoe in.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fun,鈥� Schwartz said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e thankful if the snowmobile has gone before us.鈥�
Here鈥檚 Schwartz鈥檚 argument against the farmers鈥� plan:
The Bureau of Reclamation says if water were pumped from Kachess Lake, it would take two to five years for the lake to return to its former level. But Schwartz says it may never recover.
And, he added, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get anyone in Olympia to pay attention.鈥�
Normally, people east of the 鈥淐ascade Curtain鈥� feel excluded from Washington politics. In this case, the tables are turned, and the people of Puget Sound feel excluded.
Schwartz and other critics of the plan say the state should be using water more strategically instead of focusing on water storage. They say too much water is wasted on Timothy hay and alfalfa that could be used to save expensive perennial crops like apple trees and hop vines.
But Scott Revell, with the Roza Irrigation District, says the entrenched system of water rights would prevent that.
鈥淲e've spent almost 40 years and tens of millions of dollars fighting out our place in line,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he system isn鈥檛 perfect, but everybody knows what they've got.鈥�
As for the Kachess Lake project, a final decision from the Bureau of Reclamation is expected in early 2019.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 when the litigation can start,鈥� Schwartz said.
As far as he鈥檚 concerned, the war over this water isn鈥檛 ending anytime soon.
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Eil铆s O'Neill, KUOW
/The Carpenter family relies on irrigation canals to bring water from the mountains to their hops farm in the otherwise arid Yakima Valley.
Eil铆s O'Neill, KUOW
/Jay Schwartz owns a cabin near Kachess Lake in the Washington Cascades. He wants to keep the lake as it is for his family and others to enjoy.
Eil铆s O'Neill, KUOW
/Visitors to Kachess Lake queue up for parking.