ECBID rep speaks at Water Law conference

OTHELLO — The East Columbia Basin Irrigation District Development Coordinator Jon Erickson gave a presentation during the sixth annual Water Law in Central Washington conference Sept. 21 to 22 at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, according to an announcement from ECBID.

Erickson presented on the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program and the Small Watershed Plan Project, known as the PL-566, said the statement. The conference was organized by Confluence Law and featured a series of presentations that discussed the law of water rights in the State of Washington.

“I was honored to present at this conference, which drew attendees from across the state,” Erickson said in the statement. “The OGWRP represents a large-scale collaborative effort to rescue an aquifer from decline by finding an alternative Columbia Basin Project water supply for existing withdrawals. I was pleased to share our successes and process with the attendees.”

The project officially launched in late 2022 with federal funding provided to ECBID through the Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop a watershed plan that will assist in obtaining future funding for the design and construction of the OGWRP’s remaining large infrastructure projects, according to the announcement.

The statement said that OGWRP is a regional effort to build the necessary infrastructure for farmers to exchange valid, state-issued Odessa groundwater rights for Columbia Basin Project water. ECBID has partnered with the Columbia Basin Conservation District to facilitate the watershed plan.