Kittitas Reclamation District
Kittitas Reclamation District Canal Safety
If you have a Public safety emergency, please call 9-1-1!
For KRD canal and operational issues, call 509.925.6158 (24 hr answering service)
Bureau of Reclamation crime reporting line - 1.800.437.2744
The Kittitas Reclamation District (KRD) provides irrigation water to over 59,000 acres of land in Kittitas County. The irrigation water comes from mountain reservoirs and the Yakima river.
The KRD has a major diversion Dam in Easton, thirty siphons and eleven tunnels, hundreds of miles of canals and laterals, and operation and maintenance roads. KRD canals have grates, culverts, valves, spillways, pressure tunnels and additional hazards that could cause a person to become caught up or even lodged by an object or submerged. The KRD canals, roadways and facilities are on KRD rights-of-way. The average depth of the water in canals is between 1 and 10 feet, and many of the KRD canals have very steep, vertical banks, sometimes made from smooth concrete. Water flow in the canals is deceptively fast – there are no obstructions in the waterway to slow it down, or to provide visual clues to how fast the water is moving.
The conveyance of Irrigation water is the primary purpose of the Kittitas Reclamation District Canal. No persons other than KRD employees, officers, permit holders or agents are authorized to access or use the operation and maintenance roadways. KRD canals and operation and maintenance roads are not for recreational use by anyone. There is no authorized use of operation and maintenance roads for recreation by adjacent landowners or the general public. No permission has been given to any adjacent landowners or the general public to recreate on the operation and maintenance roads by walking, hiking, riding bikes, horseback riding, rock hunting, riding snowmobiles or ORVs or hunting using KRD's canals and laterals.
Trespassing in or on the canal and operation and maintenance roads can be dangerous for children, adults, pets and horses and can result in serious bodily injury or death.
Use of KRD facilities, operation and maintenance roads and related facilities without the consent of the district is a trespass under Washington law and those who trespass are committing a crime. updated 6/12/2020
Emergency Plan
Kittitas Reclamation District is concerned when both people and animals enter our concrete lined canals and become confused or injured. KRD uses many types of protection devices to address these concerns.
Each of the following safety features below are shown in order in the photo grid.
Escape ramps are being constructed at the inlets of syphons where sub-divisions are being developed close to the canals and where high incidents of game activity are known. Escape cleats have been installed in all of the concrete lined sections where both inlet and outlet structures prevent animals from walking out on their own. Handrails are installed at regular intervals on all concrete liners to assist people out of the liner. Flashers have been installed to warn animals away from inlets to concrete lined sections. Barricades are being installed at inlets and outlets of syphons and tunnels to prevent people and animals from entering when we are de-watered. Safety ropes are installed at inlets to all syphons. Fences, guard rails and gates are installed at critical locations through out the entire distribution system.
Our facilities have warning signs for your safety. In is important to remember that ALL KRD CANALS, ROADS AND FACILITIES ARE RESTRICTED AREAS THAT ARE NOT OPEN FOR PUBLIC ACCESS. ANY USE OF KRD FACILITIES WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION IS TRESPASSING.
We need your help! Please call us if you have any concerns about public or animal safety. Please call us AND the Sheriff’s Office (962-7525) if you see anyone trespassing, dumping trash or vandalizing KRD facilities.
Crime! If you see, it report it!
Damaging Bureau of Reclamation property is a crime. Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administration are in partnership against crime. The dams, powerhouses, and transmission lines owned by these two agencies constitute major parts of the Federal Columbia River Power System.
The Pacific Northwest Federal Crime Witness Program features a toll-free hotline which allows you to report, confidentially, any illegal activity that you witness against Reclamation or BPA property or personnel.
The Crime Witness Program is designed to heighten public awareness of the serious impacts of crime within or around power production facilities, electrical substations, and transmission lines.
Reclamation and BPA operate a 24-hour toll-free hotline to gather information about a crime or a crime in progress. This toll-free number is linked directly to BPA headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
Crime Witness Hotline: 1-800-437-2744
