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Home / Washington Business - September/October 2007 / Agriculture: Where did all the water go? Potatoes, water, and a way of life |
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Agriculture: Where did all the water go? Potatoes, water, and a way of life |
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Written On: September/October 2007 |
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Written By: by Daniel Brunell |
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Clark Kagele takes a shovel from the back of his old Chevy pickup and sinks the blade into the green carpet of his potato field. He digs out the rich, damp soil, revealing a pile of roots and fist-sized potatoes. Kagele frowns slightly. "They’re still a little small," he says. "They have a few weeks to go."
Satisfied that his crop is doing well, Kagele turns his attention to another chore—getting his new well pump to work. After a short trip through the potato fields, he arrives at the pumping station. Replacing a dried-up 700-foot well, this new 2,000-foot well will supply water to 1,600 acres of irrigated land. Kagele flips a switch; an engine roars and water squirts out of the pipes. Suddenly, the water splashes to a stop, leaving just a trickle dripping off the pipes.
Later, Kagele meets up with a technician to look over the new machinery. They prod wires and test connections, trying to get the pump to work. If Kagele can’t get water to his crops soon, he’s going to have a big problem.
Kagele’s problem is becoming commonplace in the eastern part of the Columbian Basin around Odessa. The Odessa Aquifer, the water source that has been the lifeblood of eastern Washington agriculture for so many years, is vanishing. Well after well is going dry, and new wells have to go deeper and deeper to find water. Farmers are losing money, and time is running out on a whole industry in Washington.
The problem has been a long time in the making. At its root is the fact that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, created in 1902 to aid development of the dry western states, never finished the Columbia Basin Project. The centerpiece of the project, the Grand Coulee Dam, was the largest dam in the world when it was completed in 1942, but it was only part of the irrigation plan. Grand Coulee had small dams added that created 30-mile-long Banks Lake. Additional canals, siphons and reservoirs were built along a 100-mile stretch south of the dam. As much as 3 percent of the Columbia River’s flow is diverted at the Grand Coulee Dam.
Farmers in areas not yet reached by the Columbia Basin Project assumed that the promised water would soon arrive. So did the state, which took steps to provide a stopgap measure. In 1967, the Department of Ecology issued temporary water permits allowing farmers to draw water from wells in the Odessa area until the Columbia Basin Project reached them.
The last major construction done on the river was the Bacon Siphon and Tunnel project, which was completed in 1980. The Bureau of Reclamation’s Web site states that no further development is anticipated, with 671,000 acres irrigated out of the original 1.1 million acres planned. The eastern edge of the project, where Kagele grows potatoes, never received the promised irrigation water from the Columbia River. He still draws well water from the dwindling Odessa Aquifer based on a "temporary" permit issued in 1967.
One of the groups taking the lead in this crisis is the Columbia Basin Development League. Founded in 1964 with the mission to "assist with an orderly development of the [Columbia Basin] project," the League is continuing that mission as it pursues further development of the project. "The Development League’s goal is to inform the public about the Columbia River Project," said Kagele, who is also chairman of the Columbian Basin Development League. "It’s the league’s goal to educate the public about why Moses Lake, Warden, and Othello are where they are." One of the key reasons these towns exist is potatoes.
"Potatoes are the lifeblood of the Columbia Basin," said Chris Voigt, executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission. "Here in the Columbia Basin, our potato yield per acre is almost double what it is in the rest of the nation." The Odessa region produces some of the most sought-after potatoes in the nation and is one of largest producing counties. The rich loess soil and temperate climate are ideal for growing world-renowned potatoes.
The potato industry has a huge impact on the state’s economy. The total economic activity generated by potato farming in Washington is $17,700 per acre. If irrigation water wasn’t available farmers would be forced to grow crops like dry-land wheat, which only creates a total economic activity of $113 per acre. In the Odessa sub-basin area there are 35,611 acres of land under cultivation using well water for growing potatoes. If the state loses this resource, it will take a $630-million hit.
"The processing side of the potato industry is important because of the jobs it provides," said Kagele. "Every year, there’s a need for potatoes and the jobs they generate. Everyone is affected. The farmers who grow the crops, the suppliers who provide the seeds and fertilizer, the irrigation companies that service the equipment, the electric company and the processors and everyone who works for them."
With some farms getting out of the potato business, many are concerned that we might lose processors, causing a "domino effect" leading to the loss of a valuable food crop. "If we start losing any more acreage," said Voigt, "We will start to lose processors and others tied to the industry. That will have a devastating effect on the region."
Legislators in both Olympia and Washington, D.C. are taking notice. "We’re seeing a lot of piecemeal solutions with a lot of little things that are proving to be successful, like water reuse and increasing irrigation efficiency," said Keith Stoffel, manager of the water resources program at the Washington State Department of Ecology in Spokane. For example, a recently passed Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, allows farmers in the region to conserve water without losing their water rights. Formerly, permit holders were issued water rights on a "use-it-or-lose-it" basis. This is a good first step, but it pales in comparison with all that needs to be done.
"It’s about finding enough water in the river," said Stoffel. "It’s also about designing pipes and infrastructure for that water to travel in." The problem is not finding the water. The Bureau of Reclamation holds water rights allowing them to draw the needed water from Lake Roosevelt. The problem is getting the water to the region.
A Bureau of Reclamation study currently underway looks at four options for completing the Columbia Basin Project. In terms of size, the options range from 48,000 acres to 121,000 acres of newly irrigated land. The scope also varies, and each option provides water in different ways. Some provide water to certain critical areas while other areas have to wait. If these plans are carried out, a total rebuild of existing infrastructure would be required. New infrastructure would also have to be put in place. The Bureau of Reclamation expects to have final feasibility and planning reports, as well as a draft environmental impact statement, completed by 2010.
But while the studies go on and plans are made for the future, wells all over eastern Washington continue to dry up. Farmers are left to sift dust through their fingers, trying to figure out what they should do next.
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