Organizers seek to spread cost between government, users

By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

While gathering public comments on using Columbia River water to replace declining aquifers in central Washington, decision makers are also weighing funding options.

"We know water infrastructure's expensive," said Derek Sandison, director of the Washington State Department of Ecology office of the Columbia River. "We're trying to find ways to reduce the cost and do this in a phased manner that would allow the project to be spread over a time period where we can make increments of funding more affordable."

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the department on Oct. 26 released its study of options to get river water to 102,000 acres currently irrigated by deep wells in the Odessa Subarea. Cost estimates range from $728 million for about half of the acreage to about $3 billion.

Funding will be determined by state and federal decision-makers, Sandison said.

The project will also require contributions by irrigators, he said.

"In order to make this feasible in the long run, we're going to need much partnership from public and private parties," Sandison said.

In the past, the Washington State Legislature approved funding to solve the Odessa situation and pursue water, allocating $200 million, said Paul Stoker, executive director of the Columbia Basin Ground Water Management Area. Some of that money went to the studies and small projects.

The state paid for more than 50 percent of the costs of activities up until now, but Stoker doesn't know if that will continue.

"I can't really speculate where the total cost will eventually come from for a billion-dollar-plus project," he said.

The impact on salmon would be subject to a biological opinion as a preferred alternative is chosen, Sandison said. If officials are able to refill Banks Lake when flows in the Columbia River are above required levels, he said, the department is confident it will not have an adverse effect on the salmon. The fish are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Asked about the possible effect on other states and projects looking to draw water from the river, Sandison said the bureau holds 1938 diversionary water rights.

"In terms of who's in line first, I think you could argue the Bureau of Reclamation has been in line for a long time," he said.

Even with an addition of up to 100,000 acres, Sandison said, the project is still using about half of the water originally envisioned for the Columbia Basin Project.

The public comment period on the study ends Dec. 31. The agencies will publish a final report and environmental impact statement next summer, with a preferred alternative.

Management area offers groundwater education event

The Columbia Basin Ground Water Management Area will sponsor a tour and public forum Nov. 16.

The tour will be noon to 5 p.m. and the forum will begin at 7 p.m. at Big Bend Community College's ATEC Building in Moses Lake, Wash.

Paul Stoker, executive director of the management area, said the organization has invited legislative staff and water decision-makers.

Farmers irrigating through ground water wells, cities and private homes all face a shortage of ground water, Stoker said.

"If you're not connected to some kind of surface water recharge, you will run out of water," he said, noting the only source is the federal irrigation project. "Unless you find a way to receive water from that system, you're almost entirely dependent on (ground) water that will disappear in the future."

For more information, call 509-488-3409 or go to http://cbgwma.org on the Internet.