Solution to declining water supply

MOSES LAKE - Federal and state environmental officials identified a solution to remedy a decline in groundwater resources in the Odessa subarea.

The Bureau of Reclamation and the state Department of Ecology released their Odessa Subarea Special Study Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) recently. Officials from the two agencies identified a preferred alternative that would serve farmlands both north and south of Interstate 90 by enlarging the East Low Canal and developing a distribution system to deliver that surface water. The water supply would come from the Columbia River by way of Banks Lake, according to the document.

According to Joye Redfield-Wilder, of the Department of Ecology, the preferred alternative identified in the FEIS is the most feasible solution, both economically and environmentally.

Their recommendation for how to best address the declining groundwater supply in the area was filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA will make their final record of decision within the next 30 days.

According to Department of Ecology officials, farmers in the Odessa subarea have relied on groundwater from the Columbia River to irrigate their crops. However, groundwater is being withdrawn faster than the aquifer's ability to refill.

The loss of irrigation water in the area could cost $1.6 billion a year in lost revenue for farmers, in addition to thousands of agricultural jobs.

The study, which began in 2005, identifies several ways to replace groundwater currently used for irrigation with surface water to lands within the Columbia Basin Project.

The FEIS examines several alternatives to using groundwater, and their environmental consequences, designed to deliver surface water to lands in the Odessa subarea which currently are irrigated with groundwater.

Individual copies of the FEIS can be requested by calling 509-575-5848.