OGWRP is focus of Columbia Basin Development League Conference

The ongoing efforts to protect a central Washington aquifer and the economic interests jeopardized by its steady decline were the focus of the Columbia Basin Development League’s Conference and 54^th Annual Meeting, which was held November 1 at Moses Lake.

The CBDL, which identifies itself as a non-profit organization representing the interests of stakeholders of the Columbia Basin Project, the largest Bureau of Reclamation project in the United States, has staunchly advocated for full development of the Project. Initially authorized to provide irrigation for 1.1 million acres – water, diverted from the Columbia River at Grand Coulee Dam, was first delivered in 1948 – the Project currently serves approximately 700,000 acres. Irrigators on the eastern side of the Project area not served by the Project’s vast conveyance network – plans for full buildout were scuttled in the 1960s due to escalating costs – became reliant on groundwater sourced from the Odessa Aquifer.

To address the aquifer’s continual decline, which has caused numerous wells in the region – owned by municipalities as well as farmers – to fail, the state of Washington launched the Columbia River Initiative, which revived plans for expansion of the Project. In 2013, those plans took shape as the Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program.

OGWRP, intended to ease irrigation reliance on groundwater within the Odessa Subarea by switching eligible landowners over to Project surface water, is a two-step construction undertaking. The first phase, a $50 million expansion of OGWRP’s primary artery, the East Low Canal, and associated infrastructure to accommodate added capacity, is well under way. The second phase, building pumphouses and laterals to deliver water to eligible irrigators, is in the formative stages and expected to cost approximately $175 million.

After a panel discussion on OGWRP featuring a farmer/landowner, an Adams County administrator and two representatives from the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District, U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse added his perspective in the conference’s keynote address. Newhouse lauded the progress made through the collaborative efforts of federal, state and local entities, then turned to the issue of financial support. “The state of Washington has done great job, but it’s time for the federal government to step up,” he said. “We need to make (the Columbia Basin Project) bear all the fruit it was designed to.”

Newhouse indicated the key to obtaining federal funding would be getting the Project included as a line item on the president’s budget rather than relying on receipt of an earmark through the appropriations process. With continued efforts to bring attention to OGWRP – and the potentially devastating economic and environmental consequences if it is not fully implemented – Newhouse believed that the need would be recognized.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity in the Columbia Basin for (President Trump) to put his stamp,” Newhouse said. “We’ve got a builder in the White House.”

For more information on OGWRP and the Columbia Basin Project go to https://www.cbdl.org/.