April 15, 2016
CapitalPress.com
7
Irrigation season starts in Umatilla Basin
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
PENDLETON, Ore. —
Ray Kopacz shouted over
the rumbling of the cement
truck one recent morning as
workers patched a break in
the Stanfield Branch Furnish
Ditch that cost farmers a full
day’s worth of irrigation wa-
ter.
The Stanfield Irrigation
District had just started pull-
ing water from the Umatilla
River on March 31 and al-
ready they were faced with
an emergency repair. Fortu-
nately, Kopacz said they were
able to catch the leak before it
caused serious damage and
the system was turned back
on.
“It’s getting to be that
time of year everybody
wants water,” said Kopacz,
SID manager. “Water is like
gold. If you don’t have it,
this ground is worthless.”
Irrigation season is un-
derway across the Umatilla
Basin, and most districts
are feeling better than they
did during last year’s brutal,
drought-stricken summer.
Local snowpack is close
to average, and so long as
it doesn’t melt too quick-
ly, farms should be able to
make their stored water last
longer into the season.
Right now, Kopacz said
growers are focused on wa-
tering their wheat and cat-
tle pastures, while getting
a head start on vegetables
like potatoes and onions.
Corn should be planted in
the next week or so, he said.
The SID covers about
10,800 acres of high-value
farmland. It is something
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
Water is diverted from one of the Stanfield Irrigation District’s
canals northeast of Stanfield, Ore.
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
Workers with the Stanfield Irrigation District work on patching a ruptured spillway April 7 in one of their
irrigation canals near Echo, Ore.
of a special case, since the
district has 34,700 acre-feet
of water guaranteed through
the Umatilla Basin Project
— an acre-foot being the
amount of water it takes to
cover 1 acre with 1 foot of
water.
Once the Umatilla River
drops below a certain point,
the district switches over to
pumping irrigation water
from the Columbia River.
In exchange, the SID leaves
its water right from McKay
Reservoir in stream to pro-
tect native salmon and steel-
head runs during periods of
low flow. Kopacz said the
program, which was passed
by Congress in 1988, has
been valuable not only to
protect fish, but it has also
removed a lot of the guess-
work for irrigators.
“Before we had the ex-
change, growers had to ask
whether McKay was going
to fill or not,” Kopacz said.
“Now, they already know
we’re going to have water
for next year.”
Not everyone has that
luxury. The Westland Irri-
gation District, which has
about 14,750 acres within
its boundaries, isn’t on the
exchange and still depends
entirely on Mother Nature
for its water supply. Once it
runs out, it’s forced to shut
off.
District Manager Mike
Wick said this year looks
much better than last, with
the basin’s snowpack at 98
percent as of April 7. Moun-
tain snow is critical because
it acts as a natural storage
system for water, gradu-
ally replenishing streams
and rivers into the summer.
The longer they can pull
live flows from the Umatil-
la River, the longer McKay
Reservoir has to fill and the
later into the season they
can irrigate, Wick said.
“At this point, we should
have an average to maybe
above-average year,” he
said. “If we run to the end
of September, that’s a pretty
good year.”
Last year, Westland was
forced to shut off its irri-
gation by mid-August. The
district began irrigating this
year in early March, and as
of April 8, McKay was 86
percent full. Wick said he’d
be disappointed if the reser-
voir doesn’t fill, but he has
learned not to try to predict
the weather.
District
Watermaster
Greg Silbernagel said April
and May rainfall will go
a long way toward deter-
mining how the rest of the
water year goes. The state
allows irrigation on most
of the Umatilla River from
March through October,
though Silbernagel’s of-
fice must continue to meet
target flows for fish. The
cutoff point for SID on the
exchange program is 250
cubic feet per second.
The Hermiston and West
Extension irrigation dis-
tricts are also part of the Co-
lumbia exchange program,
with HID using its flows
from the Umatilla River to
store at Cold Springs Reser-
voir. The 9,600-acre district
is then eligible for credits to
draw from the Columbia, if
necessary.
HID Manager Annette
Kirkpatrick
said
Cold
Springs is about 70 percent
full, which combined with
the district’s exchange cred-
its should bring them close
to a full water year. Irriga-
tion from the reservoir start-
ed last week.
“This year is going to be
better than last year,” Kirk-
patrick said. “We’re not
filled to capacity, but this
year is definitely looking
like an improvement.”
Beverly
Bridgewater,
manager of the West Exten-
sion Irrigation District, said
they began diverting their
irrigation water March 18.
She agreed last year was
difficult, but said the one
positive was it got farmers
thinking more about conser-
vation.
“I think we’re going to
have a really good season,
because we’re all experi-
enced paying attention to
our water,” she said.
UI students skip graduation to attend international meat processing convention
Industry provides
financial support
for Germany trip
several companies raised
$4,250. Several equipment
supply companies also pro-
vided several thousand dol-
lars, Richard said.
The students will return
to share their experience
with various companies and
By MATTHEW WEAVER
their horizons and experi-
ences to be more knowl-
edgeable going out into the
industry, being more aware
of what’s going on out there
and able to relate that to the
companies they go to work
with.”
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
Capital Press
Five University of Idaho
students are so dedicated
to meat processing they’re
going to skip graduation to
attend an international con-
ference.
The students will attend
IFFA May 7-12 in Frank-
furt, Germany, said Ronald
Richard, Vandal brand meats
manager and instructor at
UI.
The conference takes
place every three years. This
is the first time the universi-
ty is sending students abroad
to IFFA. The university
discussed sending students
three years ago, Richard
said, but the conference con-
flicted with UI’s finals week
and graduation.
“The parents won out for
the graduation, walking and
stuff,” Richard said. “This
year’s group, the students
decided this was a once-in-
a-lifetime opportunity and
the parents concurred. Peo-
ple have told me time and
time again, ‘You need to get
some students over there,’ so
that’s what we’re doing.”
IFFA offers seminars,
workshops and more than
1,000 vendors, including
state-of-the-art meat pro-
cessing and handling equip-
ment and technology, Rich-
ard said.
“It’s geared more towards
the industry, which is one of
the reasons why I like to get
the students out there,” he
said. “Get them exposed to
the industry, see what’s there
and make those contacts.”
Meat processing is a
global industry, and much
of the technology and equip-
ment used in the United
States comes from Europe,
Richard said.
Participating students are
juniors and seniors involved
in UI’s meat processing pro-
gram and student employees
of UI’s Vandal Meats, the
university’s retail sales out-
let. Students applied to at-
tend the conference, Richard
said.
Depending on conference
location, cost to attend IFFA
is roughly $2,750 to $3,000
per student.
The Northwest Meat
Processors Association and
organizations connected to
the UI program, Richard
said.
“It basically broadens
Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association
Policy Memorandum
DATE:
April 4, 2016
TO:
Board of Directors, East Columbia Basin Irrigation District (ECBID);
Mr. Craig Simpson, Manager, ECBID;
Mr. Richard Lemargie; Counsel, ECBID
FROM:
Ron Reimann, President, CSRIA
Darryll Olsen, Ph.D., Board Rep. and Resource Economist
SUBJECT:
Irrigators/CSRIA Proposed Assessment to ECBID to Allow Private Sector Financing/
Construction for Odessa Subarea Water Distribution Systems
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Representing System 1 (and 2 and 4) Irrigators, the CSRIA remains open to a litigation settlement with the
ECBID Board, to allow for private construction of new surface water delivery systems from the East Low
Canal (ELC).
The economics, and renewed call for further subsidies, surrounding Odessa Subarea irrigation system
development make ever-more apparent the need to unleash private sector capital and construction. The
Irrigators/CSRIA assessment proposal to the ECBID serves that end.
The Irrigators/CSRIA assessment ($125/acre) proposal to ECBID provides for:
• Full private sector funding and construction of System 1 (and other systems).
• Full private sector funding for the remaining modifications to ELC, estimated to be about $28 million
(in addition to the state’s 2013 contribution of $27 million).
• Full private sector funding for all District and USBR OM&R costs.
• Full private sector funding for the new systems’ integration and management.
• Private sector transfer payments to the District for undefined costs or services.
The Irrigators/CSRIA assessment proposal:
• Does not rely on any further state/federal subsidies or transfer payments to complete System 1
(or other system) development.
• Already has received formal lender borrowing authority for about $42 million (System 1),
with further lending commitments for up to $100 million.
Continued objection to direct private sector funding/development only makes the state’s 2013 funding
allocation to ELC modifications appear fiscally irresponsible.
CSRIA, 3030 W. Clearwater, Suite 205-A, Kennewick, WA 99336
509-783-1623, FAX 509-735-3140
E-Mail: DolsenEcon@AOL.com
CSRIA-4-4-2016
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