Stimulus package may fund some Columbia Basin water projects

Washington Ag March 24, 2009 Two projects in the Columbia Basin related to the Odessa sub-area aquifer could get funded by that economic stimulus package passed by Congress. Mike Schwisow, who represents the Columbia Basin Development League, says the two projects are the Potholes Supplemental Feed Route and the Weber Siphon Complex. Schwisow: "The Bureau of Reclamation went through a process of developing candidate projects west-wide, through the 17 western Reclamation states. And these two projects were put on the lists by the Pacific Northwest Region of the Bureau of Reclamation and sent back to Washington D. C. So our projects are in the queue being considered as part of a pot of 700-million dollars there was made available to Reclamation as part of the economic stimulus. So, our projects are competing with projects from all over the west and we are hopeful. We think they are well deserved projects. They are shovel ready." The price tag on the Weber Siphon Complex is about 50 million dollars. That project would remove the bottleneck in the East Low Canal and allow the movement of more water south of Interstate 90 by constructing the second, always planned, siphon tube under the interstate. Schwisow says the price tag on the Potholes Supplemental Feed Route is five million dollars. It would provide additional water to Potholes to secure water supplies for South Columbia Basin Irrigation District. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.