Camas, state reach water agreement

State Department of Ecology Director Jay Manning joined a celebration of local and state officials commemorating the issuance of a new water right, which shifts Camas from drying up a pair of streams during the summer and instead allows the city to draw additional groundwater from an immense aquifer near the Columbia River. (Erik Robinson/The Columbian)

A new agreement between the state and the city of Camas that substitutes surface water for well water was formally announced this morning.

For decades the city has drawn part of its drinking water from Jones and Boulder creeks. The new agreement keeps the water in the streams, where it can boost salmon habitat there and on the Little Washougal River.

In return, the city gets the rights to enough water to meet its needs for the next 20 years.

To read a full story about the agreement, click here:

http://www.columbian.com/article/20081028/NEWS02/710289978