Conservation Groups Challenge Reclamation's Eastern Washington Water Delivery Project

Columbia Basin Bulletin, November 06, 2009 (PST)

Conservation groups on Thursday gave notice that they will challenge in federal court a planned central Washington irrigation expansion project they say violates the Endangered Species Act and implementing provisions of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

The Center for Environmental Law & Policy and Columbia Riverkeeper say the Bureau of Reclamation is advancing the so-called "Weber Siphon Project" without completing ESA processes required to determine if the work will "jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or result in adverse modification to, or destruction of, critical habitat."

"In particular, the Bureau failed to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service ('NMFS') and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ('FWS') (collectively 'the Services') concerning the effects of the Weber Siphon expansion on ESA-listed Upper Columbia River Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and 13 species of ESA-listed salmonids," according to a 60-day notice of intent to sue sent to Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Conner and J. William McDonald, director of the Bureau's Pacific Northwest Region.

Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar in April announced that $50 million in ARRA (stimulus) funds would go toward construction of the Weber Siphon Complex to eliminate a water delivery bottleneck at the East Low Canal and Interstate 90 near Moses Lake, Wash.

The Weber expansion is part of the larger Lake Roosevelt Incremental Storage Releases project that in most years would steer 30,000 acre feet more of water toward the Odessa Subarea where longtime use of wells to irrigate crops has severely depleted the aquifer. The water from Roosevelt would in effect replace some of the wells. The Bureau operates Grand Coulee Dam, which controls Columbia River flows out of the Lake Roosevelt.

The original designs for the Weber Branch and Weber Coulee siphons were double-barrel siphons, two pipes next to each other; however, only one pipe was installed as part of the construction in the early 1950s. In order to deliver a portion of the 30,000 acre-feet south of I-90, the second barrel, or pipe, needs to be installed, according to the Bureau. The agency says the siphons will assist in alleviating declining ground water tables and will reduce well-pump energy costs to farmers and ranchers in the Columbia Basin.

The Bureau on Sept. 30 chose a contractor for the project. The winning construction bid was about $23 million, well below engineers' estimate of $30 million, according to William Gray, assistant manager for the Bureau's Columbia-Cascades Area and Ephrata field office manager.

But, the work is being held up. One of the other bidders filed a protest about the bid award with the Government Accountability Office. The Bureau is now reviewing that protest, Gray said. Construction is expected to take about 18 months.

The conservation groups say the withdrawals further tax an overused source of water, the Columbia.

"The latest climate change studies in the Columbia River Basin show that the Columbia River is already too warm for fish like salmon and steelhead and water availability is a major limiting factor," according to Brett VandenHeuvel, director of Columbia Riverkeeper.

"Given the Northwest's investment in recovering salmon and steelhead, the Bureau's de facto decision to expand the Columbia Basin Project makes no sense," he said. A total of 13 Columbia River basin salmon stocks are listed under the ESA.

"We are taking action to prevent a major and illegal withdrawal of water from the Columbia River," said Rachael Osborn, director of CELP. "We have notified the Bureau of Reclamation that it is violating the Endangered Species Act by pushing ahead with expansion of the Columbia Basin Project." The Bureau's Columbia River Project delivers water to 671,000 acres via a system of 300 miles of main canals, about 2,000 miles of laterals, and 3,500 miles of drains and wasteways.

The groups say that the Bureau's ESA violations relating to the Weber Siphon Project arise from its failure to comply with its duty to consult with the expert science agencies --NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- before it takes an action that may harm salmon.

They also say that moving the project ahead now ignores a stimulus act requirement that all work be given proper National Environmental Policy Act scrutiny. A NEPA evaluation specific to the Weber Siphon Project was started but never completed, according to the 60-day notice.

"Congress was clear. Stimulus funds do not exempt the Weber Siphon Project from federal environmental review," Osborn said. "We are disappointed that the Bureau of Reclamation continues to evade its duties to ensure that federal tax dollars are not spent in a manner that causes more harm than good.

The federal government will have 60 days to respond before a lawsuit can be filed in federal court.