Solutions
SOLUTIONS
The Odessa subarea is divisible into two parts. Western Odessa lands fall within the original boundaries of the Columbia Basin Project. Irrigated acreage in this area totals about 121,000 acres. The eastern sector of the Odessa subarea, comprising about 50,000 acres of irrigated lands, is outside CBP boundaries. The eastern sector lands were never intended to be a beneficiary of Columbia Basin Project irrigation water.
WEB: Map of Odessa boundaries (from USBR 9/06 study, Figure 1).
Nonetheless both east- and west-sector Odessa irrigators are seeking replacement water. Limitations on topography and geology would make it extremely difficult and expensive to transport and deliver water to east-sector Odessa farms.
DIRECT PAYMENTS
On September 27 the Moses Lake-based Columbia Basin Herald reported that interim solutions are proposed: “While the [B]ureau works on the study, the Odessa Aquifer Coordination Team is developing projects to maintain irrigation in the sub-area. Projects being developed to cut depletion of the aquifer include paying deep-well irrigators not to irrigate, paying them for conservation program participation and a Bonneville Power Administration buy-back program.”
All interim solutions involve the public paying farmers not to farm.
WEB: Pull-out quote from above ??
WATER IMPORTATION
Several other options have been proposed, including aquifer recharge and constructing a new pipeline from the Columbia or Spokane Rivers. Both proposals are likely infeasible from both physical and economic standpoints. The Ecology-USBR Memorandum of Understanding (discussed below) provides for “appraisal level” assessment of the potential to recharge the Odessa Aquifers. However, no studies are underway, nor is a source of water and the means to transport it readily available.
Another theory has circulated that, if western Odessa area wells are “rested” (by substituting surface water from the Columbia River for groundwater ) then eastern Odessa wells will rebound. Again, there is no scientific or economic support for this concept, which contradicts the general scientific understanding that groundwater in the Columbia Plateau basalt system flows generally from (north)east to (south)west, not vice versa. It also seems unlikely that the Odessa Aquifers will rebound unless the problem of cascading wells is resolved (see above).
WEB: ??
THE USBR-WASHINGTON MOU
In December 2004, as part of its Columbia water management agenda, the State of Washington entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the irrigation districts that are served by the Columbia Basin Project. Among other activities, the MOU provides that the parties will cooperate to explore opportunities for delivery of water to the Odessa Subarea.
Pursuant to the MOU, the Bureau of Reclamation has applied for a state water permit totaling 200 cfs and 30,000 acre-feet per year for delivery to the Odessa Subarea. However, as noted in the PASS study (described below), “the Bureau will need to comply with NEPA, consult under the ESA, and address other issues before it can divert additional water from the Columbia River . . . It will be a challenge to provide water during the summer months, and during spring and summer months in drier years, when Columbia River diversions may be restricted because of fish flow objectives for species listed under the ESA.” (Odessa Subarea Special Study, Sept. 2006, p. 27).
Link to MOA:
USBR’s ODESSA SUBAREA SPECIAL STUDY
Pursuant to the MOU, the Bureau of Reclamation is now studying whether to complete the Odessa portion of the Columbia Basin Project. This five-year study (due in 2010) is supported by substantial state and federal tax dollars, and is premised on the goal of securing surface water to replace groundwater in the Odessa area.
WEB: Scan of first page? (good photo on that page)
Link to USBR webpage for study:
The USBR study has narrowed the options for bringing water to Odessa to four alternatives. These alternatives include substantial extension or enlargement of irrigation canals and/or delivery pipelines.
WEB: Maps of USBR alternatives (Figures 2,3, 4, 5)(or just use Figure 2 alone and reference the others).
In addition to physical construction, all options require new and additional water supply, ranging up to 520,000 acre feet of water. The Bureau therefore analyzed eleven water supply options, all but one of which involve inundation of terrestrial areas. The only option without impacts, “canal system efficiency improvements,” was deferred to a “later date.”
WEB: Map of water supply options from USBR Study (Figure 6)
The Bureau of Reclamation has identified Dry Coulee, Rocky Coulee, Lind Coulee and Lower Crab Creek as potential sites for inundation (Options 5, 6, 7 and 8 in the map above). None of these areas produces enough water for filling, so import of Columbia River water would be required to fill these “off-stream reservoirs.”
WEB: Photos? Look at Table 5 in the USBR study to get data on shrub-steppe and wetland acreage, houses and roads.
WATER CONSERVATION
The East Columbia Basin Irrigation District, which is served by the Columbia Basin Project, conserve ____ acre-feet of water via a multi-year conservation project. Some of that water is now being transferred some of the saved water to Odessa lands that are directly adjacent to the East Low Canal (about 3,000 acres just on the other side of the easternmost boundary of the CBP). Of interest, although the state paid for a significant portion of the conserved water, only a fraction is being dedicated to environmental benefits. (These “environmental benefits” are undefined to date and will be decided by the irrigation district, not the State of Washington.)
WEB: ??
NEW WATER RIGHTS
As part of the Washington-USBR MOU (described above), the Bureau of Reclamation has filed an application for a 200 cubic foot per second (cfs) water right from the Columbia River, part of which (if granted) will irrigate about 10,000 acres in the Odessa area. Because the withdrawal of additional water from the Columbia River would create downstream problems for salmon and upstream problems for water quality in Lake Roosevelt, any such withdrawal would require mitigation. To date, such mitigation has not been determined.
WEB: Scan of USBR water right application? Picture of salmon, or Lake Roosevelt drawdown?
POTHOLES FEED ROUTE
The Bureau of Reclamation is also studying alternative routes for delivering water to the Potholes Reservoir. Increased supply to Potholes could be a source for supplying Odessa but could also significantly alter wetlands and recreational sites in the area.
WEB: Potholes picture
Link to USBR website: