Feds asked to finish Basin

YAKIMA — Moses Lake’s Michael Buchanan heard President Barack Obama wanted job creation ideas.

Why not carry through on a 50-year promise to finish the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project? The job is only about half finished.

Buchanan, executive director of the Columbia Basin Economic Development Council, spoke at the USDA’s jobs creation forum at Perry Technical Institute last week. It was part of a series of forums across the U.S. called for by Obama. About 50 people attended, and about half of them appeared to be from the government.

“We’re here to find out how we can work together to create jobs and improve he economy,” said Mario Villanueva, director of USDA Rural Development for Washington. “We expect Washington (D.C.) to listen.”

Buchanan was quite direct with his comments. He remarked that the government doesn’t generally do a good job on job creation.

“Economic development is a matter of attracting someone with money,” he said.

That was what happened when the federal government built the Grand Coulee Dam and created the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project. A whole new economy was born, Buchanan said, and it has flourished.

“In Quincy we have call centers for Intuit and Microsoft,” he said. “A tire company is planning to bring 2,000 jobs to Ephrata.”

Buchanan noted that Grant County is the leading potato producing county in the U.S. He said completion of the irrigation project could make Washington the largest potato producing state, surpassing Idaho.

But a half a century later, the Columbia Basin Project remains about half done. Buchanan noted that Congress authorized the irrigation of 1,095,000 acres and only 670,000 are under irrigation.

“I want to see (the stimulus money) invested in something real,” he said. “Let’s complete the Columbia Basin.”

After the forum, Buchanan noted the Columbia Basin Project takes less than two percent of the Columbia River’s water. He said completion of the project would require less than that.

Rick Glenn, of American West Bank in Yakima, had some frank words for the USDA. He said the federal government needs to force countries that export to the U.S. to begin to provide social services to their populations similar to those the U.S. provides.

Glenn said the cost of doing business in the U.S. is affected by the cost of social programs. Other countries are able to send products here for less than it costs to make them here. Without the playing field being leveled, he said, it’s impossible for the U.S. to compete.

“If businesses can make a profit, they will hire people,” he said.

Jeremie Dufault, a small businessman in Yakima, called for employee tax credits for small business. He has two employees and is considering hiring a third, but he’s holding back to see what the government does.

Glenn and Mario Martinez, of Mabton, both said the government needs to support plans for increased irrigation water storage. They noted the Yakima Valley is using all of the water it stores now and can’t grow economically until more water is made available.

“We need help all of the way from Washington, D.C. to make it happen,” Glenn said.

Tom Silva, a small fruit grower, said owning land is one thing. Making it work is quite another. He suggested the government come up with operating capital for small growers.

“We have to improve the ability of small growers to get their products to export markets,” he said.

Silva also suggested solar power farms across Eastern Washington with the aid of the federal government. He said farmers could diversify and sell power if the government would put up the power grid for distribution.

“We do have the sunshine,” he said.

Glenn and Dufault both touched on the hot political issue of illegal immigration. Glenn said that if the government is not going to let illegals work, then it should bar them from social services.

Dufault said the government should reform the immigration laws and “unlock the entrepreneurial potential of people living in the shadows.”