Port of Othello looks to expand water in Bruce Industrial Park

OTHELLO — The Port of Othello’s industrial park out at Bruce isn’t lacking for water.

“We have plenty of water available and plenty of water rights,” said Chris Faix, the port’s executive director. “We actually have enough storage, we have plenty of pressure and everything.”

The port’s industrial park about five miles east of Othello near the intersection of W. Cunningham Road and S. Booker Road is home to a number of primarily agriculture-related businesses — Nutrien Ag Solutions, Syngenta Seeds, Simplot Grower Solutions, SGS Fertilizer, Andersen Organics, Target Ag Production — some of them water-intensive operations.

The port also has an additional 104 acres currently available for sale or long-term lease out in Bruce, ready to build on for anyone interested in coming to the Othello area.

“We’ve opened our doors to whoever would like to come there. It is zoned industrial, so agricultural or light industrial or food and beverage, that kind of stuff,” Faix said. “That would be the easiest or best fit, but we’re always looking to diversify.”

As Faix noted, however, the Port of Othello has ample water for the park. According to the port’s website, the port’s Bruce Waterf System has two wells permitted to pump 2,050 gallons of water per minute, rights to use 262.8 million gallons of water a year — of which 12 million was used in 2021 — and a 200,000-gallon water tower.

However, Faix said the port has decided to build a second 200,000-gallon water tower to provide additional water storage and backup emergency flow in the event of a fire.

“According to the fire department and (county) building and planning, we need to have more fire storage to protect new buildings when they are built and existing buildings,” he said.

Faix estimates the cost for a second large water tower, which would be connected to the existing water system, at approximately $5 million to construct and connect. The port is looking to the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Community Economic Revitalization Board, which provides grants and low-interest loans to economic development projects across the state.

“We’re hoping to get some grants, but we do know it will be a partial or even a large-portion loan,” Faix said. “We’ll have to put some of our own money in there as well.”

Depending on when funding can be secured, Faix said the port is hoping to start construction work either in the summer of 2023 or the latest in the summer of 2024, noting that several prospective tenants have expressed an interest in buying or leasing land to build facilities but cannot set up shop in Bruce until the water storage has been added or is clearly under construction.

“We need to get the water so that we can attract them,” Faix said. “So we’re trying to push as fast as we can, but it is a process. It just takes a while to do all the paperwork and go through all the hoops.”

“So it is possible by the fall of next year. That might be more realistic, but I’m hoping for summertime,” he added.

The Port of Othello also runs the city’s small municipal airport, a business incubator at 615 S. Broadway, the main port office building with space for rent at 705 E. Hemlock St., and roughly 70 acres for commercial or residential development at the corner of S.R. 26 and Reynolds Road with access to city water and sewer.

Faix said that the property is actively being looked at by a group of investors interested in bringing more housing to the city. However, he said not to expect anything, as the investors and developers are looking for interest rates to come down and the economy to show some improvement before they move.

“Othello needs more housing, more affordable housing and some middle-class homes,” Faix said. “So that everyone has a nice place to live.”

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