Siphons turned on to provide Odessa Subarea aquifer relief

The new Lind Coulee Siphon complex began delivering Columbia River water Wednesday to hundreds of Warden-area deep-well irrigators now relying on the Odessa Subarea.

The new siphons are part of a Columbia River water program to provide some relief for the declining aquifer in the Odessa Subarea, which stretches down to north Franklin County.

Groundwater has been so depleted that water must be pumped from wells as deep as 2,400 feet, requiring substantial electricity to get water with high sodium concentrations. The aquifer has dropped by as much as 200 feet since 1980.

Over the winter the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District oversaw construction of two siphons nearly 15 feet in diameter that stretch nearly 4,500 feet underground south of Interstate 90.

The work was done in partnership with the Washington State Department of Ecology and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Columbia Basin Project.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Siphons turned on to provide Odessa Subarea aquifer relief."