More Odessa Aquifer Irrigators Reject East Columbia Basin Irrigation District's Expensive Socialized Plan

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Odessa Aquifer Irrigators; CSRIA

Oct 19, 2015, 08:46 ET

WARDEN, Wash., Oct. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More Odessa Aquifer Irrigators are rejecting the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District's (ECBID) high cost proposal which includes expensive publicly financed revenue bonds, and costly arbitrary annual "development fees."  Additionally, the ECBID has also not provided or allowed the option of using the much less expensive privately funded/financed alternative that would quickly bring surface water to Odessa Aquifer deep well irrigators.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151019/278085
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151019/278084

In a recent letter dated October 1, 2015 to the ECBID, several deep well irrigators south of I-90 and east of the East Low Canal stated the following: "The water service contract recently presented to us (by the ECBID) is an open-ended contract, with no specific ceiling on the amount that will be required by the landowners to pay for the 30 year duration.  According to what we have been told, it could increase or decrease depending upon multiple factors.  We have also requested payment options including the ability to use private funding in lieu of bonds, but as of the date of this letter, we have not been given that option....Even though we have continually expressed our wish to utilize the water more efficiently through water spreading, we are prohibited from doing so due to restrictive regulations.  Water spreading would allow us to incorporate more farm ground, therefore reducing the cost per acre."

In effect, the October 1st letter rejects the ECBID's socialized or normative financing scheme for surface water irrigation development in the Odessa Subarea, and comes on the heels of a "Statement of No Acceptance" to the ECBID Board and two lawsuits (as outlined in the following news articles) challenging the ECBID's Board and Manager's refusal to release new water service contracts for private sector development for Systems 1 and 2 (both north of I-90 and System 4 (south of I-90).

Combined, the Irrigators' letter, statement, and lawsuits stress two crucial points:

  1. The private sector Irrigators should be allowed to develop the systems using their own private capital.  The ECBID and US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) should release the new water service contracts.  More ground, with less cost, will be developed with direct private sector capital than through the ECBID's "normative" scheme.
  2. The new water service contracts should reflect existing state water law authority for water spreading, using high water-use efficiency practices.  This "issue" principally rests with ECBID management seeking to impede the release of a water service contract to irrigators wanting to privately fund/finance irrigation systems east of the East Low Canal.

In the current litigation before the ECBID Board, a restructured water service contract payment (financial) package was presented that would allow for equitable development of East Low Canal water distribution systems north/south of l-90.  This package would provide for:

  1. Private sector capital and construction for the systems.
  2. Full private sector reimbursement for USBR and ECBID OM&R (operations, maintenance and repair) associated with East Low Canal service and operations.
  3. Full private sector reimbursement for the remaining capital costs necessary to compete East Low Canal modifications, for water system access north/south of I-90.
  4. Additional private sector compensation to ECBID to assume administrative duties associated with irrigation systems" integration to the East Low Canal.

A reasonable path forward is clear, but the ECBID needs to restore credibility to their actions. The ECBID Board/Manager should redirect their efforts toward working productively with the private sector, to best serve the interests of the Irrigators, our local communities, and the state.

If the ECBID Board is unwilling to change course, then a direct legislative review should occur regarding the use of state funds already allocated to ECBID for the East Low Canal modifications.

For more information, please contact Darryll Olsen at 509-783-1623 or Email.

About the Odessa Aquifer Privately Funded Project 

The Odessa Aquifer Privately Funded Project has been widely endorsed by many newspapers and decision-makers as a viable, cost-effective and realistic option to immediately begin replacing the use of groundwater from the declining Odessa Subarea Aquifer. 

Following are recent editorials endorsing/supporting the privately funded/financed project:

SOURCE Odessa Aquifer Irrigators; CSRIA