ECBID accepts $32.8 million award for Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program
Standing from left to right: East Columbia Basin Irrigation District Board Member Don Osborne, ECBID Board Member Reid Baker, ECBID Development Coordinator Jon Erickson, Washington State Rep. Tom Dent, Washington State Sen. Mark Schoesler, Washington State Department of Ecology Financial and Projects Section Manager Melissa Downes, ECBID Board Member Dennis Swinger, ECBID Board Member Kevin Lyle. Seated from left to right: ECBID Secretary-Manager Craig Simpson, Washington State Department of Ecology’s Office of Columbia River Director Tom Tebb, ECBID Board President Duaine Anderson.
COURTESY PHOTO/EAST COLUMBIA BASIN IRRIGATION DISTRICT
OTHELLO — During the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District Board of Directors Nov. 1 meeting, the board officially accepted an award of $32.8 million in appropriations to further the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program, according to a Monday announcement from the ECBID.
According to the announcement, the award is a record amount in state funding for the OGWRP.
“This award is the result of the consistent hard work of a number of key partners and is a significant step forward in building out the OGWRP systems,” said ECBID Board President Duaine Anderson in the statement. “This effort has been decades in the making, and we’re thrilled to see this project progress in such a significant way.”
The statement said the funding was approved in April as part of the Washington State Legislature’s Capital Budget. The funding will provide irrigation water to the acreage located within the Odessa Subarea Special Study and will be combined with a recent $39.9 million investment from the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.
According to the announcement, the ECBID expects to begin construction on the EL 86.4 pipeline water system for Odessa in 2024 before the next irrigation season begins, which is expected to be in March 2024.
OGWRP is a regional effort to implement the Odessa Subarea Special Study Final Environmental Impact Statement issued in 2012, which is building the necessary infrastructure for farmers to exchange valid, state-issued Odessa groundwater rights for Columbia Basin Project water.
The ECBID is the largest irrigation district in the state, with authorization to irrigate 472,000 acres, according to the statement. 169,000 acres are developed and managed by 4,500 landowners within the federal Columbia Basin Project. Additionally, the District is involved in the development of 87,000 acres associated with OGWRP.
For more information, visit www.ecbid.org.