On August 14th, the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association (CSRIA) held a special briefing and tour in the Tri-Cities area to demonstrate highly efficient Operations & Maintenance (O&M) water conservation irrigation practices that CSRIA members are using.
Several key legislators (Sen. Chris Marr, Sen. Jim Honeyford, Rep. John McCoy, Rep. Bruce Chandler, Rep. Laura Grant, Rep. Larry Haler), representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), the Department of Ecology, the Department of Agriculture, the Conservation Districts, and other state and local officials participated on the briefing and tour, which highlighted various types of Annual O&M Water Conservation Measures, including irrigation scheduling, moisture & soil monitoring, weather & crop monitoring, and monitoring of irrigation systems for both efficiency and performance measures.
During the tour, CSRIA President Ron Reimann and CSRIA Principal Consultant Darryll Olsen discussed the CSRIA O&M Water Conservation Proposal, which would utilize the above mentioned O&M Water Conservation Measures, and would reduce real-time water withdrawals by about 17%, according to State Conservation District water managers and other water resource experts.
In particular, Ron Reimann and Darryll Olsen explained to tour participants that the CSRIA O&M Water Conservation Proposal would have the following positive benefits if immediately implemented by the Department of Ecology:
- Half (8.5%) of the 17% water savings would be put toward new or additional irrigated agriculture water uses while the other half (8.5%) of the water savings would be left in the river to help instream flows.
- It would immediately help the rural economy in Washington State.
- Water conserved through the O&M Water Conservation proposal would allow for 20,000-30,000 new acres of irrigated agriculture in 2-3 years.
- It would create an additional annual income of $70-100 million for the state.
- It would not require any new state or public funding.
- It would help to avoid new conflicts over Columbia-Snake River Water Management.
- It would ensure that the provisions of the 2006 Columbia River Water Management Program are working.
- Water transfers would only be seasonal and it would not negatively affect other water rights, existing junior water right holders, or existing state in-stream flow rules.
- It would be implemented within the CSRIA Voluntary Regional Agreement (VRA) with the Department of Ecology.
- It would be applicable to Columbia-Snake System Mainstem and the Odessa Sub-Area.
Attached is a photo (taken near the Snake River) from the tour of CSRIA President Ron Reimann discussing CSRIA’s O&M Water Conservation practices with the entire group including, from left to right: Rep. Bruce Chandler, Sen. Jim Honeyford, Rep. John McCoy, Brad Avy (WSDA), Rick George (CTUIR), Rep. Laura Grant, Derek Sandison (Ecology), and Sen. Chris Marr.
For more information, please call 509-783-1623 or 360-878-7073 or email csria@earthlink.net.
About CSRIA
The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association has become a leader in promoting water conservation and water efficiency in the Pacific Northwest. Its membership irrigates about 250,000 acres of prime row crop, vineyard, and orchard lands in Washington State and primarily consists of operations along the Columbia-Snake River system, relying almost exclusively on private investment to build and operate highly efficient, state-of-the-art river pump stations and water distribution systems. In economic terms, CSRIA members annually generate about $475-600 million in state and local income.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6033042&lang=en
Contacts:
Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association (CSRIA)
Darryll Olsen,
509-783-1623 or 360-878-7073
csria@earthlink.net
