Foster, Sawyer vie for MLIRD director seat

MOSES LAKE — The quality of the water in Moses Lake.

It’s something both Jeff Foster and Ron Sawyer agree is important.

Which is why the two are vying for the vacant position on Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District’s board of directors when district property owners are set to cast ballots on Tuesday, December 10, in a regular district election.

“Without a question the main issue right now is the blue-green algae,” said Sawyer, owner and operator of Cascade Marina in Cascade Valley west of Moses Lake.

Sawyer is challenging Jeff Foster, who was the incumbent until he lost his board seat earlier this year when a property he owned sold before he could get another parcel of his annexed into the district.

Prior to that, Foster had served six years — two three-year terms — as the board’s chairman.

“Dealing with the water quality has been a challenge,” said Foster, general manager at Windermere Property Management. “It’s not only the responsibility of the MLIRD, but it is one of our tasks, one of our challenges.”

Foster said he is very concerned about continuing to manage the MLIRD “in a fiscally sound way” and keeping the district involved with the newly formed Moses Lake Watershed Council, which is overseeing the work of coordinating efforts to improve the quality of the lake water.

Moses Lake saw major blooms of toxic blue-green algae in the last two summers, prompting the Grant County Health District to post warnings about the water quality.

“Working with various agencies is critical to making sure we’re taking the precautions necessary to keep people safe,” Foster said.

But that’s not all. Foster believes people need to know this will be a collective effort involving many groups and agencies, and not just the MLIRD.

“Education is very important,” Foster said. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding out there, that this is fully on our shoulders, that we’re responsible for the entire lake. Our boundaries don’t even include the entire lake.”

While Foster said he’s seen algae blooms plaguing other warm, shallow bodies of water — such as during a recent trip to Arizona — he also believes it is important for the MLIRD to “do what we can” to assist the watershed council — and other state and local agencies — and “control the various problems of the lake and provide recreational opportunities.”

“The economic value that the lake provides is huge,” Foster added.

As the owner and operator of Cascade Marina, Sawyer knows well the lake’s value, and has felt first hand the effect of the algae bloom as it has reduced fuel and spare parts sales and meant fewer repair work for his shop.

“We are the only source for gasoline on the water, and we typically sell 500-800 gallons per week,” Sawyer said.

But once the health department warnings went up, Sawyer said “that just flat stopped” and he was lucky to sell 500 gallons of fuel for the rest of the summer.

In addition to living and working on or near the lake since the early 1980s, Sawyer said he’s also been involved with the Department of Wildlife on a number of lake projects “mainly in regard to fisheries” and is Grant County Tourism’s representative on the Moses Lake Watershed Council.

“So, I know the lake really well, and I know the issues really well,” he said. “I’m already involved in a lot of things I would like to see done.”

If elected, Sawyer said he would work to make sure the Bureau of Reclamation — which oversees the Columbia Basin Project — continues to deliver dilution water through the lake. He also wants to push ahead with a test next year to determine how effective treating the lake with alum would be in reducing the phosphorus levels in the lake.

That test is currently being worked out by the MLIRD, Sawyer added.

“All my previous work with the Department of Wildlife will make it easier,” he said. “I know who to contact.”

Property owners, and only property owners, in the MLIRD wishing to vote on December 10 will have to do so the old fashioned way — the sole polling place is the district’s office at 923 E. Wheeler Rd. in Moses Lake. Polls are open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., though property owners can request an absentee ballot, which they can mail in. Absentee ballots will be accepted by noon on Monday, Dec. 16, so long as they are postmarked Dec. 10.

The Moses Lake Irrigation District was formed in the late 1920s with the goal of providing lake water to farmers. However, with the addition of rehabilitation in the 1950s, the primary duty of the MLIRD became managing the lake for recreation.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.