YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- Yakima County is set to study the possibility of drawing water from the Columbia River to assure adequate water supplies for agricultural irrigation.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports (http://is.gd/kAaeFz ) that county commissioners will commit $750,000 to a study next year.

The study is part of a wide-ranging package of projects for fish, farms and communities in the three-county basin that revolve around drawing water from the Columbia River. A stakeholder group of city, county, state and federal agencies and the Yakama Nation is supporting that package.

The Yakima Irrigation Project stretches from near Lake Easton in Kittitas County to Richland in Benton County. There have been five significant droughts in the last 20 years in that area.

County Commissioner Mike Leita says he shared the county's proposal with a five-member committee of the larger group, which is spearheading efforts to obtain about $5 billion to implement the overall package.

Copyright 2012 The AP.