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10 CapitalPress.com April 29, 2016 Potato truck may roll indefinitely Unprotected junior Idaho well users face curtailment By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press EAGLE, Idaho — Basket- ball star Kobe Bryant had the Great Big Idaho Potato Truck on his mind during one of the final games of his storied ca- reer, a sign to the Idaho Potato Commission that their travel- ing promotion hasn’t lost its effectiveness after four years. The Los Angeles Lakers guard, who recently retired, also referenced the running storyline of IPC commercials — featuring “actual” Idaho potato grower Mark Coombs’ search for the “missing” potato truck. “How long have you been working with Idaho potatoes?” Bryant asked ESPN sideline reporter Heather Cox, an IPC partner nicknamed “Spud” by professional athletes, prior to an interview. “Have they found that truck yet?” Alabama coach Nick Saban asked Cox about the where- abouts of the 6-ton replica Russet Burbank on a flat-bed prior to the 2016 college foot- ball championship game, jok- ingly adding, “Is it real?” With the truck recently departing for its fifth national tour to raise awareness about Idaho’s most famous vegeta- ble, IPC President and CEO Frank Muir believes the celeb- rity comments, which Cox re- layed to him April 19, demon- strate why it must continue to roll indefinitely. Though IPC had mulled retiring the truck after its current trek, Muir said By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press John O’Connell/Capital Press Children play a bean toss game to win Spuddy Buddy toys by the Great Big Idaho Potato Truck at the McDonald’s restaurant in Chubbuck, Idaho, in this file photo from Oct. 3, 2015. The truck recently departed on its fifth national tour, and IPC has no immediate plans to retire it. the organization is now lean- ing toward keeping it on the road for as long as the public remains eager to see it. “The feedback we’re get- ting from growers is, ‘Why would you take it off the road?’” Muir said. “We con- tinue to have more requests for (truck appearances) than we can fulfill. They’re begging to see it. How many people beg to see commercials?” Idaho Falls grower and IPC Commissioner James Hoff agrees the truck remains an effective tool for the state’s potato growers and takes the continued requests for truck appearances as a sign that it hasn’t overstayed its welcome. “I haven’t heard any nay- sayers about the truck out there,” Hoff said. IPC has budgeted $700,000 for the current tour, scheduled to cover about 25,000 miles. The organization has already filmed a new commercial up- dating the search for the truck. It is scheduled to debut during the national broadcast of Boise State University’s first home game against Washington State University. Muir said the commercial ends with a “cliff hanger,” leaving the door open for the truck to remain at large. During the last tour, Muir said the truck made eight ap- pearances before crowds of more than 350,000, and one Florida family reported travel- ing five hours to see it. “This is like seeing an eclipse. It only comes around once in a while, and people are excited to say they’ve seen it,” Muir said. Some highlights of the cur- rent tour will include stops at the Kentucky Derby, a Kansas City rock festival, a New En- gland chili cook-off, the pre- mier of Idaho the Musical in Las Vegas, SeaFair in Seattle and a photo opportunity in which the truck will float on a barge through New York Harbor. Energy bill amendment to enable Klamath Basin water, power plans By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Proponents of certain wa- ter solutions in the Klam- ath Basin say an energy bill amendment that passed the U.S. Senate provides key sup- port for improving facilities and other initiatives. The amendment by Ore- gon Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both Democrats, authorizes measures first proposed as part of the 2010 Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, although it doesn’t address the controversial re- moval of four dams on the Klamath River. The provision allows the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to help farmers in the basin deal with reduced water supplies as a result of future water-shar- ing agreements and to provide reduced-cost power for irri- gation, the senators said in a news release. The provision, which also enables the bureau to do cer- tain upgrades of irrigation fa- cilities, was part of an energy bill that passed the Senate, 85- 12, on April 20 and now heads to a Senate-House conference committee. “It’s really good news,” said Beatty, Ore., cattle ranch- er Becky Hyde, who rep- resents the Upper Klamath Water Users and is a long- time proponent of the KBRA. “The nice thing is, we’re slow- ly … starting to Becky put regulatory Hyde assurances for species back into place for agriculture. This facilities bill resurrects some of the power stuff (in the KBRA). “We still have a long way to go on water balance, but we’ve got some good things happen- ing,” she said. As is often the case in the Klamath Basin, the measure is not without controversy. Law- rence Kogan, an attorney for the Klamath Irrigation District, and representatives of U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., were meeting with Reclama- tion officials on April 21 to discuss the objections of basin irrigators to some of the plans. Kogan said the bureau is using coercive tactics to pres- sure the KID to accept terms of a government loan to replace a nearly 100-year-old flume on one of its main canals by link- ing future water deliveries to the district’s acceptance of the contract. “It’s a poison-pill bill that will kill the basin because Congress doesn’t even know what it’s put in the bill,” Ko- gan said. He accuses propo- nents of “deception,” arguing their true aim is to turn much of the basin into non-produc- tive wildlands. But the senators insist that their amendment, along with other parts of the newly res- urrected Klamath Basin plan, will benefit agriculture as well as fish and wildlife. The aim is to bring down power costs for basin irrigators, whose elec- tricity costs are higher than those in similar Reclamation projects, officials say. The plan will “help ensure that Klamath agriculture is a sustainable foundation of the local economy,” Merkley said in a press release. It’s been a decade since the expiration of a 50-year contract between the U.S. De- partment of the Interior and PacifiCorp caused power rates in the region to skyrocket from a half-cent per kilowatt-hour to as much as 10 cents, Hyde said. The lower rates were a trade-off for the ability to pump water through the proj- ect for its Klamath River hy- droelectric facilities. While the bill doesn’t identify a funding amount, it enables the bureau to find lower-cost power for irrigators with projects that promote en- ergy efficiency and renewable energy, the senators said. One solution could be putting in micro hydro facilities along irrigation canals or the river, Hyde said. “Micro hydro is a really interesting concept,” she said. “One of the things (the bill) asks for is to study in a real- ly expedited way what’s the best return for dollars invest- ed in energy infrastructure upgrades, so that means solar could play a role or micro hy- dro could play a role.” The bill’s passage in the Senate comes two weeks after top state and federal officials gathered in Klamath, Calif., on April 6 to sign the final version of a dam-removal plan they announced in February. The plan calls for a nonprofit orga- nization to take control of the four dams from owner Pacifi- Corp and seek a go-ahead for their removal from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis- sion. In addition, the parties signaled a plan to revive the KBRA, a companion to the original Klamath Hydroelec- tric Settlement Agreement, with federal legislation that would provide money to oper- ate two diversion dams within the basin that PacifiCorp would turn over to Reclamation so ir- rigators wouldn’t have to pick up the cost, Craig Tucker of the Karuk Tribe has said. 18-2/#4N BOISE — During a de- cent water year, several Idaho irrigation wells will nonetheless likely be cur- tailed this summer, accord- ing to officials with the Idaho Department of Water Resources. At risk are Eastern Snake Plain irrigators with junior groundwater rights dating to 1989 who haven’t signed on to a mitigation plan for safe harbor from the Surface Water Coali- tion’s delivery call, ex- plained IDWR Deputy Di- rector Mat Weaver. In the past, Idaho Ground Water Appropri- ators, Inc., has provided mitigation for all junior groundwater users affected by the call. Going forward, IGWA will mitigate only for participants in a settle- ment it reached with the co- alition last summer, leaving certain cities and well users who aren’t affiliated with a groundwater district unpro- tected. IGWA attorney T.J. Budge said unprotected ir- rigators may still join with their nearest groundwater district and enjoy IGWA’s safe harbor, provided that they participate in the set- tlement. Budge said there will be no “free rides” for irrigators who aren’t affect- ed this summer but wait to join IGWA until a future year when their priority dates would be curtailed. “We’ve been getting (new members) and we will be getting more, I’m sure,” Budge said. “There are still several out there.” A&B Irrigation Dis- trict and the Southwest and Goose Creek irrigation dis- tricts have gotten their own mitigation plans approved and several Idaho cities have a mitigation plan pending covering municipal use. The coalition filed its call more than a decade ago, arguing well irrigation has contributed to declines in springs that supplement sur- face flows in Snake River reaches between Blackfoot and Milner Dam. Though mountain snow- pack is about average and reservoirs are relatively full in most of the state, IDWR has calculated that ground- water users still owe the co- alition 44,200 acre-feet this season, accounting for the cumulative impacts of de- cades of well use on spring flows. Budge explained the de- partment began considering aquifer discharges in its in- jury formula last year, which increased IGWA’s burden and was a chief motivator behind the settlement. Weaver said IDWR is evaluating which users ar- en’t covered by the three mitigation plans and be- lieves more than 100 rights could be subject to curtail- ment. Those users have un- til May 3 to submit reasons to the department why their wells should remain active, though Weaver suspects it would take a few more weeks beyond the deadline to complete the analysis to move forward with curtail- ment. He said precedent for curtailment was set in 2009 when a few wells were shut down as a result of a trout farm’s call. Under the settlement, IGWA must give the coa- lition a flat 50,000 acre- feet of water per year, plus members must reduce an- nual groundwater consump- tion by 240,000 combined acre-feet, or roughly 12 percent per user. IGWA had applied to use its settlement as its new mitigation plan, but the cities of Idaho Falls and Pocatello filed objec- tions, concerned they could be accountable for aquifer recovery milestones in the agreement. Budge said the cities and IGWA resolved their dif- ferences during an April 18 meeting. An amended version of the 2010 methodology order governing the call was rein- stated on April 19 to cover the interim, and will remain in place for unaffiliated groundwater users. Budge said IGWA will abide by the agreement, even though it exceeds the current-year mitigation requirement. Blueberry farmer warns some surfactants may sunburn plants in unseasonably hot weather By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Veteran blueberry grow- er Bob Mattila, who farms between Camas and Battle- ground, Wash., said a sur- factant used with pesticides may cause sunburn when used in unseasonably hot weather. Mattila said he lost 5 to 10 percent of his crop and wants to warn other farm- ers. However, a berry crops extension agent at Oregon State University’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center said it’s too early to know if the damage will affect polli- nation. Associate Profes- sor Wei Qian Yang said the damage was largely to flow- er petals. In some cases, only one-third to one-half of the petals were damaged, and flowers might be OK. Wei said it would be wise to avoid spraying when un- usually warm weather is anticipated. He suggested farmers read the surfactant label and look for high tem- perature warnings. He had not seen the product label in this case and did not know what it says. Mattila said there is no temperature warning on the surfactant label. A surfac- tant, mixed with pesticide, helps the pesticide spread and stick to the plant, so it won’t be washed off in rain. While some flowers had patches of damage, others were “completely wiped out,” he said. Mattila said he sprayed pesticides April 1 and 2, and the temperature reached 88 degrees on April 7. The National Weather Service in Portland said it was the hot- test April 7 on record, with a high of 85 degrees at the Portland International Air- port. Alarmed by burned plants he saw afterward, Mattila said he sought ad- vice from Wei at OSU’s North Willamette station. He said Wei immediately suspected an oil-based sur- factant might be responsible because another grower had the same problem. Wei con- firmed that account. Mattila said he also questioned the product dis- tributor and was told the surfactant he used is poly- mer-based, not oil-based. A company representative was not immediately available to comment. At any rate, Mattila said he’s trying to figure it out but wants to warn other farmers. He said he’s used the surfactant for years and never had trouble before, but noted that he hasn’t seen 88 degrees in early April be- fore, either. “I wanted to put the in- formation out there so farm- ers are aware of this,” he said.