By the time the Ag Council held its first meeting of the year at the end of March, we were just starting to see the enormity of what lay ahead. As many of the members of the committee are in essential industries, and were in...
In January, League members voted to elect Christina Wyatt and Kelly Cochrane to join the CBDL Board of Trustees. Then in April, JC Baldwin stepped down from her position, and the board appointed Alan Loebsack. Christina Wyatt of Big Bend Electric Cooperative has more than 14 years...
In 2017, the League worked with a local film company, to produce “Waiting for Water”, a 10-minute documentary film about the Columbia Basin Project (Project). “Waiting for Water” follows a family of farmers in the Columbia Basin region- a land of great potential, against a backdrop...
Got water? We do. The Bureau of Reclamation still has water available in our Potholes Bank Storage Additional Artificially Stored Groundwater Program (PBS). If you are in the Mae Valley/South Frontage Road area, you may be eligible for a PBS groundwater service contract. On Jan. 8,...
The League’s Chairman and Lincoln County Commissioner, Mark Stedman, was appointed to the Columbia River Policy Advisory Group, which advises the Office of Columbia River (a part of the Washington State’s Department of Ecology) on policy issues regarding the development of new water supply for...
The American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers will hold its annual national conference Sept. 24 and 25 in Moses Lake. ASFMRA leaders asked the League to assist with setting up a day-long workshop focused on the CBP Speakers will include Mike Schwisow, Director...
The Columbia Basin Project (CBP) is the water source for thousands of farmers. While waiting for continued development of the CBP, decades ago, the Department of Ecology issued farmers permits to use ground water to irrigate more than 100,000 acres. The Odessa aquifer plummeted and...
The Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program is transferring deep well irrigators from the depleting Odessa Aquifer to more reliable Columbia Basin Project surface water. The project includes expanding the width of canals to increase delivery capacity. When canal widths increase, the bridges that cross the...
Columbia Basin Hydropower provides administration, operations, and maintenance for hydroelectric facilities owned by the three Columbia Basin Irrigation Districts (East, South, and Quincy). The power they produce benefits the local economy and the farmers of the Columbia Basin. Darvin Fales has been involved with the Columbia...
The Columbia Basin Project was featured in a recent Spokesman-Review article written by Nick Deshais. ODESSA, Wash. – Clark Kagele’s truck stops next to a tangle of shattered concrete and broken pipe. An old, defunct well. For a few decades, 600 feet was deep enough. Not anymore. On...