Senator hears reasons for irrigation project expansion

Cantwell to speak for CBDL Oct. 22

OTHELLO — The solution to combat declining aquifer levels is a three-year process that should have begun four years ago.

That was the message that members of the community presented to U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., at a meeting in Othello City Hall Saturday afternoon.

Columbia Basin Development League executive secretary Alice Parker said that the meeting was a round table discussion for members to present Cantwell with an idea of the need to continue the Columbia Basin irrigation project.

Originally, 1,095,000 acres were scheduled to be irrigated, but only about 600,000 acres have been developed to date.

As the Odessa aquifer continues to decline, farmers in the undeveloped portion of the project are having to drill deeper for water, which creates questions of economic feasibility and the ability to use the water from the deeper levels.

Parker said that Cantwell would be a guest speaker Oct. 22 at the annual CBDL meeting, scheduled to be held at the Best Western Hallmark Inn. The league had asked to arrange a tour of the project, and Cantwell was available Saturday.

The senator took a flight over the Columbia Basin Irrigation project before the meeting.

"Our tour was excellent — we had a great flight, the weather cooperated greatly and we had the opportunity to give her a bird's eye view of the whole vastness of the project, and I thought it went really, really well," Parker said.

Of the reason for the meeting afterward, Parker said there was only room for 10 people on the plane.

As such, Cantwell heard from representatives of such organizations as the Washington State Potato Commission and the Othello J.R. Simplot processing plant, both of which emphasized that the area potato industry, which has the second highest crop value in the state, would be all but non-existent without the irrigation project.

Columbia National Wildlife Refuge manager Bob Flores thought Cantwell should be made aware of the importance of open ground, and grounds that are wet, and the recreation it creates for citizens of the state.

"All you have to do is come here on a weekend and see the people from other parts of Washington that come here, because of the sunshine, water and open land for them to do things away from their crowded lifestyle," Flores said. "Even though they may not live here, they do bring the money here."

While expansion isn't necessarily very high on the list of priorities back in Washington, D.C., Cantwell said the impact to the state's second largest crop value without further water solutions needs consideration.

"It puts it in a different perspective, " she said. "So it's obviously a very helpful meeting and good information."

Cantwell said that she would have to talk to Congressman Richard "Doc" Hastings, R-4th District, who originated $250,000 to help progress planning of the project expansion, and look at a similar proposal in the Senate to get the process started.

"It's only an evaluation of probably what the scope of the study would be, but it will start the ball rolling," Cantwell said. "So we'll work with the Bureau of Reclamation on that and see what we can get done here quickly and to reinforce Doc's $250,000 by giving something similar in the Senate."

Paul Stoker, executive director of Columbia Basin Groundwater Management, said he found Cantwell responsive and understanding of the issues underlying the water problems.

"It's very gratifying that our concerns here about water in the central part of the state have attracted Maria Cantwell's attention," Stoker said.

Othello mayor Jeannie Sanders called the meeting "awesome.

"I might be a little bit of an optimist, but I think it's a shoo-in," Sanders said. "I think that the Senate is definitely going to fall behind it because Maria has a lot of respect, and Doc Hastings has been in there a lot of years. He's already got his foot in the door, and she'll be right behind, because she's a go-getter."