Making Smarter Decisions Under Scarcity: Decision Intelligence and Water Management in the Yakima River Basin

The Yakima River basin is a snapshot of the water crisis facing the American West. It supports a $4.5 billion agricultural economy, nearly 400,000 residents, and some of the most important salmon and trout habitat remaining in the Pacific Northwest. If you’ve eaten a really good apple, had a great microbrew with hops-forward flavor, or eaten red cherries in the recent past, chances are these products were grown in the Yakima River valley. All of this depends on a river system that is structurally over-committed and increasingly stressed by drought and a changing climate.