Othello receives $1 million capital budget allocation for water reuse facility

OTHELLO — The city of Othello will receive about $1 million from the Washington Senate capital budget for a long-running project for water aquifer storage and recharge.  

Othello Mayor Shawn Logan said the money would be used to offset some of the cost of purchasing property for the water reuse facility. Othello city officials have been working on the project for about nine years. 

The total cost of the 77.7 acres between North Seventh Avenue and North 14th Avenue along Lee Road was $4.2 million. Logan said the city won’t need all the land for the project.  

“(The Senate capital budget allocation) will cover most of the cost of the 25 acres we need for the water treatment plant,” Logan wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. 

The money was allocated at the request of Ninth District Senator Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, who said it’s proven to be feasible.  

The property was part of a three-way deal between the city, the Othello School District and landowners AJ and Jodi Ochoa. The school district purchased the land in 2016 with the tentative plan of building a school, but that never happened, and the property was put up for sale in 2021.  

The Ochoa family-owned land was more suitable for the school district’s needs. City officials, OSD officials and the landowners worked out a swap with the school district, which then allowed the 14th Street property to be sold to the city.  

City Engineer Robin Adolphsen said in March the facility is in the process of design.  

“We have secured $500,000 in grant money for design work, though an additional $1 million in federal funding originally allocated for design was cut from the federal budget,” Logan said. “We have since renewed our request to complete the design phase.” 

Once the facility is operational, the city will pump surface water during irrigation season from canals operated by the East Columbia Irrigation District. The goal is to reduce dependence on the aquifer that is now the city’s only source of supply.  

Water levels in the aquifer have declined over the century that Othello has been using it, and the town is growing, adding more demand. Tim Flynn, a consultant working with the city, said in 2023 that the aquifer does recharge during the winter, but over the years hasn’t been getting as much money back as was being used. 

City officials have been pursuing the water reuse project to try and recharge the aquifer or at least keep it from declining further.  

A pilot project determined that the concept would work; water pumped into the aquifer stayed there. Once that was established, city officials started looking for funding to build a treatment facility. The water will either be pumped into the city’s existing water reservoirs for immediate use or be pumped back into the aquifer. 

Logan said city officials are looking for funding to help pay for the construction of the facility and have obtained some already. 

“We have received $15 million for construction and are actively exploring at least six different funding sources to help bring the project to completion,” Logan said. 

    Othello mayor Shawn Logan, left, and property owners Jodi and AJ Ochoa review the contract finalizing the city’s purchase of 77.7 acres of property in March. The land will be used for the city’s water reuse facility.