Over 100 People Attend Recent Luncheon about the Privately Funded Project to Bring Surface Water to Odessa Aquifer Deep Well Irrigators in Washington State

MOSES LAKE, Wash., Nov. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Over 100 people attended a recent Luncheon in Moses Lake, Washington regarding the Privately Funded Project to bring Surface Water to Odessa Aquifer Deep Well Irrigators, and listened to a presentation by Darryll Olsen, Ph.D., Resource Economist, Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association (CSRIA) Board Representative, and a panel discussion by irrigators and representatives of major banks/lending institutions including: Brian Kuest, Senior Banking Consultant, CliftonLarsonAllen; Riley Mengarelli, Senior AgriBusiness Credit Officer, Northwest Farm Credit Services; Jim Boone, Vice President, AXA Equitable AgriFinance; Eli Stahl, Co-Manager/Owner, Stahl Farms; and James Buchal, Principal Legal Counsel for CSRIA.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141106/156996
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141106/156997

During the presentation it was discussed that the System 1 Project pre-construction engineering has been completed and the participants have secured approved financing (with lending rates locked-in for the near term), and a Water Service Contract has been submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District for System 1 of the Privately Funded/Financed Project.

System 1 would be the first step in the overall plan/project to bring surface water irrigation to about 70,000 acres (or more) of farmland in the Odessa Subarea, by constructing a system of pressurized pipes from the East Low Canal to pieces of land north and south of I-90.  The initial development (Systems 1-4) would reach as far south of I-90 to Lind Coulee.  Further development to the south (of Lind Coulee) will require additional expansion of the East Low Canal. 

The System 1 Project has received private financing from several major banks, and would include about 14,000 acres north of Interstate 90 in the Odessa Subarea. To move the project forward, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation needs to sign the Water Service Contract, Darryll Olsen explained.  "We are really putting it in the hands of the private sector to determine what people can afford," Olsen said. "It's the irrigators' decision along their lenders." 

Brian Kuest, Senior Banking Consultant for CliftonLarsonAllen, said there are over $40 million in commitments from landowners in System 1.  Kuest said they are confident they can get commitments in an amount of about $100 million from landowners in System 2 and farther south.

According to Olsen, if the Water Service Contract is signed by the Bureau of Reclamation, the System 1 project could soon begin and water could be delivered to areas in System 1 in 2016.

"There are no legal barriers to getting this done," stated CSRIA Legal Counsel James Buchal. '''The Bureau of Reclamation could pick up the pen and could sign the contracts that we sent them back in June, and we could start building pipelines," Buchal said.

If something isn't done very soon, many farms east of Moses Lake or are going to be without water in the near future, explained Eli Stahl, co-manager/owner of Stahl Farms (near Ritzville), which is in the System 1 area.

Darryll Olsen stressed the importance of time, because if a contract is not signed in a couple of months, the 2016 farming season could suffer.  He urged irrigators and those in attendance to contact their elected officials to urge the Bureau of Reclamation to sign the contract immediately and get the project underway.  "Our elected officials are very open to being contacted about this," said Olsen.

The Privately Funded/Financed 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 Aquifer in eastern Washington.  Moreover, many legislative leaders have also expressed support, and CSRIA recently presented the project to the House Capital Budget Committee at a special work session in Olympia.

Furthermore, in an interesting turn of events since the recent Luncheon, the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District (ECBID) issued a statement indicating that it has adopted a resolution to now designate water for an initial pump station and privately funded pipeline system (known as System 3) which would serve about 10,000 acres of eligible deep well irrigated lands just south of Interstate 90, and will work with landowners to finalize a water service contract for this system. Given the precedent that ECBID is setting with System 3, the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association would strongly urge the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District and USBR to also move ahead immediately and approve/sign the water service contract for System 1 (north of I-90), especially given the fact that System 1 already has financing and can move ahead with construction right way. 

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

SOURCE Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association