State, growers at odds over water rights

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer

The Washington State Department of Ecology is preparing legislation for the coming session that could allow some Mid-Columbia growers to irrigate more of the land they own.

But it could put some water users in jeopardy of relinquishing some of their Columbia River water rights if they apply for the program.

The program would be similar to one already proposed by the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association that would allow half of water conserved through good practices to be used to irrigate more land. The rest of the conserved water from the growers' water rights would remain in the river to benefit fish.

However, the irrigators, who initially are proposing a pilot program for six farms, want the program to be open to water users who already have adopted practices to conserve water.

They also question why the state's proposal would charge irrigators up to $30 per acre-foot for water used to irrigate additional land even, though growers already are paying for the conservation measures and hold the rights to the water, said Darryll Olsen, a consultant to the association.

Giving credit for water that has not been used for years and even decades would be applying the law retrospectively, which is not legal, according to the state.

Water users who have conserved water and not put that conserved water in trust could have the state rule they had relinquished the water and no longer have a right to it, said Derek Sandison, director of the Office of the Columbia River for the state.

Applying for the program would act as a trigger, requiring the state to ensure that irrigators had been using their full allotment not held in trust, said state officials. If they had not for the past five years, they no longer would be entitled to use it.

Washington's water policy is "use it or lose it," a practice the state Department of Ecology sees as preventing hoarding of a state resource that others badly need.

However, the irrigators association says that state water law specifically exempts relinquishment for projects like the two proposed. They would be based on seasonal water use and the law makes an exemption for that, Olsen said.

The state and irrigators agree that good water management practices can reduce the amount of water used by growers by about 17 percent.

That would leave 8.5 percent of the water a grower holds rights to in the river to augment river flows and help fish runs during low-water periods and the other half of the saved water could be spread to additional land owned by the grower but not now under irrigation.

The irrigators said techniques such as soil moisture probes, weather monitoring and irrigation scheduling can be used to conserve water.

In 2006, the Legislature told the Department of Ecology to aggressively seek out new water supplies both for out-of-stream uses, such as city water supply and irrigation, and to improve in-stream water flows. The new water supplies were intended to be available through a mix of storage and conservation.

The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association is frustrated that nearly four years later, no more land is being irrigated.

The state says considerable progress has been made through the new Columbia River Basin Water Management Program.

The top priority is to address the serious decline of water in the Odessa Subarea aquifer. For 40 years, farmers in Grant, Lincoln and Franklin counties in the Odessa Subarea have been relying on declining ground water, and their ability to irrigate their crops is at risk.

The loss of irrigation water in the prime potato production region could cost $600 million a year in lost revenue and the elimination of 7,500 jobs, including farming and food processing jobs, Sandison said.

New releases of water planned from Lake Roosevelt are intended to help Odessa farmers. About 36 percent of the water would go to Odessa farmers and 30 percent would be used for municipal water needs. The rest would be used to augment low stream flows and help salmon and other fish.

In low water years, additional Lake Roosevelt water would be released with two-thirds of the additional water available for people who hold water rights that by law cannot be used during drought years. That includes about 375 users on the Columbia River, said the state.

The state also is working on other water programs, such as working out a deal for Kennewick Irrigation District water use on Red Mountain.

But the irrigators say that although the state is working to increase water storage and conservation, that is not translating to more irrigated land.

-- Annette Cary: 582-1533; acary@tricityherald.com.

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Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009

State, growers at odds over water rights

By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer