Ecology director: Odessa aquifer tops Columbia River concerns for state DOE

Speaker stresses need for one message in quest for support

MOSES LAKE — Declining water levels in the Odessa Sub-Area Aquifer top the list of concerns for the state's governor and ecology department, but those in support need to present themselves as one voice.

So said guest speaker Jay Manning, the new director of the Washington Department of Ecology, as he addressed the Columbia Basin Development League at its annual meeting and dinner Wednesday at Big Bend Community College.

Manning, who assumed his position about eight months ago, told those in attendance that he and Gov. Christine Gregoire are committed to doing as much as possible to complete the Columbia Basin Project.

The state allowed farmers to begin drawing water from the aquifer in the 1970s, believing they would ultimately get water from the planned expansion of the project. Congress originally authorized the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project to cover 1,095,000 acres, but to date, only about 600,000 acres have been developed.

"We have a whole series of water disputes on the Columbia River, from the bottom of the river to the top, in terms of water supply, water quality (and) salmon recovery," Manning said after his speech. "For the Department of Ecology and for the governor, the Odessa water supply issue has become our number one priority. That's the one we're focusing on, that's the one we've made the most progress on. That's one we think there's the greatest need, and we're going to focus on that one first."

But the road to seeing the second half of the Columbia Basin Project built remains a long one, Manning cautioned. Obtaining water from the Columbia River means that interested parties with leverage, including the Bureau of Reclamation and Indian tribes, have got to give their OK.

Manning also mentioned that continued efficiency and conservation is the easiest and cheapest source of water for the second half.

In pursuing long-term support, Manning told the CBDL to heal rifts and get its internal house in order, noting that the league has a long history of being constructive, positive and realistic, which has been noticed and appreciated. He advised the league not to lose that as its members work to have the second half of the Columbia Basin Project completed.

"We started to get messages from a new organization that we'd never heard of about a month ago, and they were different than the message from the league," he said following his speech, referring to the Odessa Aquifer Replenishment Coalition (OARC), calling them more hard-edged and less constructive. "I don't care who it is, I don't care if it's the league or if it's the replenishment group, but it needs to be one group, one message and the league has been good about being constructive, helpful, giving credit where credit's due. They're the kind of partner that we can work with."

Manning said that groups which tend towards strong-arm tactics are not going to work very well.

"They haven't done that, he said of OARC, "but their tone has been a marked contrast to the tone of the League."

OARC chief consultant Pat Boss responded that his group has never spoken with Manning, so he's not sure to what the speaker was referring.

The coalition is proposing an aquifer recharge, where water is taken from a water source — the Columbia River — moved into the area and injected into the ground. Earlier this week, Boss said the proposal is to offer short-term relief to the CBDL as it pursues the completion of the second half of the Columbia Basin Project.

"I think the message that is being put forth by the OARC is one of cooperation, and we greatly support the completion of the Columbia Basin Project," Boss said. "If Mr. Manning feels there is only one option, he needs to sit down, keep an open mind and look at all of the options. We've asked to meet with Jay Manning on three occasions, we will continue to ask to meet, and we feel like the proposal we put out there is a very valid proposal."

Boss said he was puzzled that the department would not give the area a serious look for recharge when other parts of the state are being considered for similar projects.

"It's a viable proposal that deserves recognition by the state, and we're going to continue to push it," Boss said.

"The CBDL has been in business since 1964 and the lead non-governmental organization over the years for these kinds of issues," CBDL chair Roger Thieme said. He said some people have looked at the mission of the league, for full development of the project, and questioned the CBDL's willingness to concentrate on the short-term issues at hand. Thieme called it "a little misunderstanding" of the mission.

"Hopefully that's all been put to rest," he said, referring to the league's Columbia Basin Water Initiative, formed earlier this year to supply long-term support for the activities that must be accomplished to assure more surface water is made available to the project. "That's what the Columbia Basin Water Initiative is all about."

Thieme added that there was no question that the agencies and legislators are all on the same page as to the level of the crisis, the fact that it needs to be solved as quickly as possible and all are at the table together talking.

Thieme said he was pleased to see that the speakers kept the audience's attention during the course of the conference, which lasted more than four hours.

"There was no table conversation," he noted. "To me, that meant that they were really interested in what was being said."

CBDL executive secretary Alice Parker estimated that there were about 200 people in attendance at the conference and 150 at the meeting and dinner.

Parker said she thought the conference had good messages from the congressional delegation and Manning.

"He laid it out that we have these problems and we've got to deal with them before we can ever get the thing accomplished," she said. "I thought he did a great job. Several speakers today referred to us that we have to work together. We cannot be a divided group. We've got to speak with one voice."

Of the future, Manning said that there is hope.

"We're going to make progress and we're going to solve this problem," he said. "It's going to take some time, but we can make some short term progress, make some short-term steps that won't be everything everybody wants, but we can do that and make progress on the longer term. It's the longer term that's really what we've got to get to in terms of a solution."

Earlier in the day, those in attendance for the CBDL's annual conference heard from consultant Mike Schwisow, who provided a background to the movement to complete the project and the declining levels of the Odessa Sub-Area Aquifer, and presented the situation today, referring to the $600,000 provided by the state this year to begin studying ways to increase irrigation to 170,000 acres of farm land in eastern Washington.

"We're in gear now, we're organized, we have commitments from the partners we need to partner with … and so we're set to go," Schwisow told conference attendees.

Representatives of various organizations and community groups — including the Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries, irrigation districts, business and deep well irrigators — participated in panels regarding who benefits from completion of the Columbia Basin Project and how the organization moves ahead. The conference also included the perspective of lawmakers from Congress and the Washington Legislature.

"We need to get the people together and we need to get the information out to the people," said Odessa grower David Greenwalt, noting that his dryland operation and irrigation well have both been impacted by the aquifer.

"The more important thing is, in my notion, that rural Adams County is losing their domestic water supply," he said. "That's important to me. If we do not have the rural people, that they have affordable water to drink, we're going to lose our rural people out there."