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October 9, 2015
CapitalPress.com
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Wanted: Billions for irrigation, water projects
Statewide parcel fee
tossed out, no sub yet
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Washington
state lawmakers are hunting
for billions of dollars for wa-
ter projects, including major
irrigation undertakings. So
far, there are many ideas for
spending money, but no popu-
lar way for raising it.
Legislators “still haven’t
come up with one that’s ac-
ceptable to the majority,” Yaki-
ma Valley Sen. Jim Honeyford
said Monday.
Some agricultural interests
have aligned with flood-con-
trol and pollution-reduction
advocates, hoping the three-
way partnership will muster
political support for funding
ambitious and expensive proj-
ects.
The effort stumbled in the
2015 session. Honeyford,
whose farm-rich district has
suffered in the drought, and
Sen. John Braun from flood-
prone Lewis County proposed
a statewide $35 per parcel tax
to raise some $6 billion over
20 years.
Honeyford, a Sunnyside
Republican, said Monday
that the parcel fee has been
“thrown out.” Nothing has tak-
en its place.
Although Honeyford and
Braun’s plan stalled, the House
created a water task force,
which met for the first time
Monday.
The task force heard ag-
riculture and conservation
groups praise various projects,
though nobody proposed a
funding mechanism.
There were several sug-
gestions for other ways to the
spend money, such as replac-
ing culverts, floodplain resto-
ration and improving munici-
pal water systems.
Honeyford said after the
meeting that he wants to limit
the program to irrigation, flood
control and preventing storm-
water pollution. Otherwise, the
Legislature will need to raise
more money or have less funds
for the three main purposes, he
said.
Honeyford said lawmakers
could ask voters in a statewide
referendum to borrow the
money and pay it back from
the general fund. He quickly
noted, however, that legisla-
tors are still struggling to in-
crease education funding, as
ordered by the state Supreme
Court.
If legislators find a way
to fund water projects, some
money presumably would go
toward increasing water avail-
Don Jenkins/Capital Press
Washington state Sens. John Braun, left, and Jim Honeyford
listen during a meeting on water issues Oct. 5 in Olympia. Braun
and Honeyford joined a House task force looking into how to fund
irrigation, flood control and pollution reduction projects.
able to Yakima Valley farmers
in drought years. A coalition
of growers, environmental-
ists, tribes and government
agencies finalized a 30-year,
$3.8 billion plan in 2012. The
state has committed $30 mil-
Ironman record holder to
promote Idaho potatoes
lion over the next two years to
move the plan ahead, but the
plan calls for spending near-
ly $900 million over the next
decade. Federal funding is a
possibility, but the amount is
uncertain.
Washington Supreme
Court approves closed
advisory group meetings
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
EAGLE, Idaho — An icon
in endurance sports has agreed
to promote the nutritional val-
ue of Idaho potatoes while
raising funds for an organi-
zation that assists families in
adopting international children
with Down syndrome.
The Idaho Potato Commis-
sion has donated $25,000 per
year to Utah-based Racing
for Orphans with Down Syn-
drome, also known as RODS
Racing, since the organization
was founded in 2013.
IPC President and CEO
Frank Muir has agreed to let
RODS use IPC’s annual con-
tribution to bring Ironman
triathlete James Lawrence,
known as the Iron Cowboy, on
board for a two-year contract
as a RODS spokesman “fueled
by Idaho potatoes.”
“Potatoes have been a sta-
ple in my fitness nutrition for
years,” Lawrence said, via
email.
Lawrence, of Utah, recent-
ly set a record by completing
50 Ironman races in 50 days
covering all 50 states. An
Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile
swim, a 112-mile bike ride and
a 26.2-mile run. Lawrence’s
supporters set up courses and
arranged special races in each
state.
Lawrence said he pursued
the record — which he consid-
ers to be the toughest endur-
ance feat ever accomplished
— to inspire others to be more
active.
“During the 50 events in
50 days through all 50 states,
my team made sure I had pota-
toes on hand,” Lawrence said.
Photo submitted
James Lawrence, known as the Iron Cowboy, participates in the cycling component of an Ironman
distance race. Lawrence, who recently set a record by competing in 50 Ironman races in 50 days
in 50 states, will now raise funds for an organization that helps families adopt international children
with Down syndrome, while raising awareness about the nutritional benefits of Idaho potatoes.
“They were a part of my dai-
ly routine and fueled my way
into the history books as the
only person alive to complete
the 50-50-50 challenge.”
RODS now has 200
long-distance athletes who
find sponsors for their races
to help families who adopt a
chosen RODS child. RODS
covers roughly half of interna-
tional adoption fees, which can
approach $40,000.
Muir explained endur-
ance sports are a good fit for
promoting Idaho potatoes, as
many distance athletes keep
foil-wrapped spuds in their
pouches for an in-race en-
ergy boost. He’s confident
Lawrence will raise the orga-
nization’s profile, and send a
positive message about potato
nutrition.
“Anybody who does
long-distance training, running
or biking, potatoes are a very
important part of their diet,”
Muir said. “They minimize
muscle cramping and are easy
to digest.”
Lawrence likes to cut his
spuds into cubes and bake
them into “crispy treats,” con-
sumed during his biking ses-
sions.
In the near future, Law-
rence intends to focus on fund-
raising, speaking and coach-
ing.
RODS founder Brady
Murray said his organization
has raised nearly $500,000
thus far and has set a goal of
raising $1 million during the
next two years, capitalizing on
Lawrence’s name recognition.
Murray said 10 international
children with Down syndrome
now have loving homes thanks
to IPC’s contributions.
Murray said Lawrence is
especially concerned about
childhood obesity and has
been active in promoting a
healthy lifestyle for children.
“This is an opportunity
for Idaho potatoes to have
an incredible spokesperson,”
Murray said. “James is a big
advocate for whole foods and
using potatoes as a fuel source
for endurance athletes.”
Murray founded RODS
after his son was born with
Down syndrome and he
learned in many foreign coun-
tries, children with the disor-
der are institutionalized.
Also, the state Department
of Ecology estimates replac-
ing farm wells drawing from
the depleting Odessa Subarea
aquifer with surface water in
Eastern Washington will cost
$365 million through 2030.
Kittitas Reclamation Dis-
trict manager Urban Eberhart
said that to win funding for
irrigation projects, agriculture
groups must form an alliance
with other interests.
“That is what is going
to make it work,” he said.
“You’re not going to be suc-
cessful going it alone.”
Some homeowners and
environmental groups, includ-
ing the Sierra Club, voiced
their opposition at the House
meeting to the Yakima water
plan. They say increasing wa-
ter storage at reservoirs will
submerge recreation areas and
deliver too little benefit to tax-
payers.
OLYMPIA — The Wash-
ington Supreme Court on
Thursday ruled public agen-
cies can close some advisory
group meetings to the public,
rejecting a claim by a proper-
ty-rights group that San Juan
County violated the state’s
open meetings law in crafting
land-use restrictions.
The 6-3 decision found that
the county’s “critical areas or-
dinance team” wasn’t required
to announce meetings or allow
the public to attend.
San Juan County’s admin-
istrator formed the group in
2012 as the county updated its
Growth Management Act rules
for buffers around wetlands,
wildlife habitat and other ar-
eas.
The Citizens Alliance for
Property Rights Legal Fund
sued to overturn the policies,
arguing they were invalid be-
cause the advisory group’s
closed meetings were illegal.
At issue was whether the
state’s Open Public Meetings
Act applies to groups that
could influence policies but
don’t have the final say.
State agencies commonly
have advisory panels on topics
such as wolf recovery, agricul-
ture-related water issues and
wildlife management.
A Washington State De-
partment of Fish and Wildlife
policy calls for its advisory
group meetings to be public,
but recently it closed portions
of two Wolf Advisory Group
meetings.
The high court’s majority
cited three reasons San Juan
County didn’t violate the law:
The group didn’t include a ma-
jority of the county council; it
apparently wasn’t created by
the council; and it didn’t act on
behalf of the council.
Writing for the majority,
Justice Charles Wiggins not-
ed there was no official list of
members or written purpose
for the “informal group.” The
plaintiffs were able to deter-
mine after filing suit that the
group included three council
members, county planners and
a scientific consultant.
In the dissenting opin-
ion, Justice Mary Yu said the
group’s vague nature didn’t
justify closing the meetings.
“Nothing about the (Open
Public Meetings Act) endors-
es the view that informality
is an adequate substitute for
open government,” she wrote.
“This lack of documentation
and institutional amnesia only
emphasized the importance
of public oversight under the
(meetings law.)”
Washington Attorney Gen-
eral Bob Ferguson and the
Washington State Association
of Municipal Attorneys filed
briefs supporting San Juan
County.
The alliance’s court allies
includes Allied Daily News-
papers of Washington, the
Building Industry Association
of Washington and the Pacific
Legal Foundation.
A Superior Court judge
and the Court of Appeals
had dismissed the alliance’s
complaint, but the group’s
president, Jeff Wright, said
Thursday in an interview that
he thought the alliance would
prevail in the Supreme Court.
He said the ruling provided
public agencies with a “blue-
print” for evading public scru-
tiny.
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