Weber siphon adds water to Basin
Two people tour a tube that is part of the Weber Siphon on Tuesday.
MOSES LAKE - A water agreement is estimated to provide 35,000 new jobs and add $3 billion to the state's economy in the coming years.
The agreement signed Tuesday near Moses Lake allows more water for 100 communities along the Columbia River.
It's significant because only a handful of water rights have been issued in the last 15 to 20 years, said Joyce Redfield-Wilder, a state Department of Ecology spokesperson.
Some of the communities are yet to be determined, but it is known that the "Quad Cities," of Richland, Pasco, Kennewick, and West Richland, will have its permit processed first as a result of a legal settlement, according to Ecology.
Others applying for more water rights include Sunland Estates Maintenance, Grant County PUD, Crescent Bar Inc., Desert Aire Owners Association, City of Grand Coulee, Chelan County PUD and Avista Corp.
Ecology will try to complete 50 applications by the end of the year, explained Redfield-Wilder.
Area and state officials met at the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project's Weber Siphon Complex in August to watch the water agreement signing between Washington Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant and Bureau of Reclamation Pacific Northwest Regional Director Karl Wirkus.
The water will be released next year through the Weber Siphon Complex, which is being built to deliver 30,000 acre feet of Lake Roosevelt water to 10,000 acres of land now watered by declining underground wells.
The improvements fix a bottleneck by adding a second barrel to the siphon.
State funds totaling $800,000 paid for the design of the second siphon. Washington state's federal legislators and Reclamation obtained $36 million in stimulus funds for the construction.
Water is to be released annually from Lake Roosevelt, with 27,500 acre feet for streams and salmon, 30,000 acre feet for Odessa area farmers and 25,000 acre feet used as water rights to municipalities and industries.
Joe Gross, a 40-year farmer with the Warden Hutterian Brethren, grows potatoes, wheat and peas. He waters the crops with underground water.
Lately he's dug so deep for water all the wells on the top are drying up. He went down to 2,500 to 3,000 feet when digging.
"I want some water," he said. "If you want to raise spuds, you need water. Potatoes don't want dry land."
State Agriculture Director Dan Newhouse said he has to caution everyone, as the work was just a step and they have to commit to keep building infrastructure.