14 CapitalPress.com
June 3, 2016
Idaho Water Resource Board funds aquifer model
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BOISE — The Idaho Wa-
ter Resource Board has bud-
geted $500,000 toward the
fi rst year of a fi ve-year effort
to study Treasure Valley aqui-
fers and develop an improved
model to predict their function.
The project was included
in $14.4 million the board allo-
cated May 20 for its Secondary
Aquifer Fund.
The Idaho Legislature sig-
nifi cantly increased its contribu-
tion to the fund for Fiscal Year
2017, which begins July 1, from
$5.5 million during the current
fi scal year to $12.5 million.
The remainder of the fund-
ing will come from carryover
dollars and revenue generat-
ed by board assets, including
Dworshak Dam and Pristine
Springs Fish Hatchery.
Al Barker, a Water Re-
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Crops are irrigated in Idaho’s Treasure Valley. The Idaho Water
Resource Board has approved $500,000 to begin to model Trea-
sure Valley aquifers to better understand the interaction between
groundwater and surface water.
source Board member who
serves as the attorney for
the Boise Project Board of
Control, explained there are
several layers of aquifers
within Treasure Valley, some
of which are interconnect-
ed while others are isolated.
While some have an adequate
supply, others are in decline.
“I’ve always been an ad-
vocate for looking beyond the
Eastern Snake Plain,” Barker
said. “There are many aqui-
fers in the state that are in
need of study.”
Sean Vincent, hydrology
section manager at the Ida-
ho Department of Water Re-
sources, plans to team with
the U.S. Geological Survey
and University of Idaho ex-
perts in developing the mod-
el. Vincent said the USGS
was instrumental in helping
to develop previous models,
including one for the Spo-
kane Valley-Rathdrum Prai-
rie Aquifer. Vincent said the
board will also create a tech-
nical advisory team to provide
user input on the project.
Though groundwater mod-
els have provided the science
to base water calls on the
Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer,
Vincent doesn’t anticipate
the a Treasure Valley model
would be used for conjunctive
management in the future.
Rather, he explained it
should aid in efforts to bolster
groundwater levels through
recharge, and in making bet-
ter management decisions for
users throughout the system.
Vincent said a Senate con-
current resolution directed the
board to address statewide
aquifer and sustainability
studies and develop a Trea-
sure Valley groundwater mod-
el with “all necessary mea-
surement networks.”
As a starting point, Vincent
explained the model will use
the existing Treasure Valley
Hydrologic Project Model,
which is static based on an
average year. The Bureau of
Reclamation “tweaked” the
model in 2013 to consider
economic data and monthly
variability, Vincent said. He
said the new model will be
transient — factoring sea-
sonal and yearly changes —
highly calibrated, and will
use satellite data to calculate
water losses through evapo-
transpiration.
In the fi rst year of the proj-
ect, Vincent said the team will
focus on fi lling in data gaps,
such as installing at least a
dozen gages to measure wa-
ter leaving a shallow aquifer
from drains that pour into the
Snake River and Boise River.
Wesley Hipke, IDWR re-
charge coordinator, said the
board approved an additional
$200,000 to study Treasure
Valley recharge opportuni-
ties and $200,000 to improve
modeling in the Wood Riv-
er Valley, among other line
items. He said the majority
of the funding — about $10.4
million — was earmarked for
the ESPA.
Idaho dry bean industry debating
fi eld standard for nightshade
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
A greater sage grouse is shown in this fi le photo. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has said spon-
sors of an Oregon wind energy project must study how the bird will be affected in the winter.
Ruling hinders Oregon wind energy project
Ranchers in Harney
County hoped for
economic boost
ORE.
395
Area in
detail
20
Burns
Crane
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
205
Capital Press
A federal appeals court has
dealt a serious blow to an al-
ready-struggling wind energy
project in Oregon’s Harney
County that would give local
ranchers an economic boost.
Though the 100-megawatt
wind energy project would
have been built on private
ranchland, the 12-mile trans-
mission line necessary to con-
nect turbines with the power
grid would have to cross pub-
lic property.
That triggered an environ-
mental analysis that has now
been deemed unlawful by the
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals, largely due to a winter-
time sighting of sage grouse in
the area.
Approval for the project
was originally granted by
U.S. Bureau of Land Man-
agement in 2011, but the
litigation by environmental
groups and the dropping price
of renewable energy have de-
layed installation of the wind
Malheur
Lake
78
Harney
Lake
Proposed
wind farm
project site
N
Diamond
MALHEUR
NATIONAL
WILDLIFE
REFUGE
Wind mills
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
turbines indefi nitely.
Due to the uncertainty
caused by the lawsuit, fi led
by the Oregon Natural Desert
Association and the Audubon
Society of Portland, a pow-
er-buying agreement secured
by project developer Columbia
Energy Partners was canceled.
The proposal now has an-
other impediment to overcome
due to the 9th Circuit ruling,
which found that BLM failed
to properly examine the im-
pact on sage grouse, a former
candidate for Endangered Spe-
cies Act protection.
Proponents of the wind
project initially prevailed
in court when U.S. District
Judge Michael Mosman
ruled in 2013 that BLM had
complied with the National
Environmental Policy Act in
assessing its environmental
effects.
The 9th Circuit has re-
versed that decision, holding
that BLM wrongly concluded
the wind turbine site wouldn’t
be occupied by the sage
grouse over winter.
Contrary to BLM’s extrap-
olation, the “wind-swept char-
acter” of the site that “makes
it ideal for wind-energy gen-
eration” also indicated it can
be used by the bird because
“snow there may be blown
off sagebrush and exposed for
grouse to eat,” the ruling said.
A sighting of sage grouse
near the site in February under-
mines the agency’s assumption
that the area was too snowy to
provide habitat for the bird, the
appellate court found.
“And with the impacts on
sage grouse not properly estab-
lished, the BLM did not know
what impacts to mitigate, or
whether the mitigation pro-
posed would be adequate to
offset damage to wintering
sage grouse,” the opinion
said.
WILDER, Idaho — Ida-
ho’s dry bean industry ap-
pears split on whether to
adopt a maximum fi eld stan-
dard for hairy nightshade, a
troublesome weed that costs
the state’s industry about $8
million a year.
Idaho dry bean seed test-
ed in the laboratory for certi-
fi cation can have no trace of
the weed. But some people
believe a fi eld standard for
nightshade limiting the num-
ber of plants in a given area is
necessary to ensure the state’s
bean seed industry remains
competitive.
Wyoming’s bean indus-
try recently adopted a fi eld
standard for nightshade and
California and Washington
are following suit, said Ida-
ho Bean Commission board
member Don Tolmie, pro-
duction manager for Trea-
sure Valley Seed Co.
About 70 percent of the
dry beans grown in Idaho
are seed beans, and the state
is the national leader in that
category. Other states that
are adopting nightshade
field standards will use them
to claim their seed certifica-
tion process is better, Tolmie
said.
“These
other
states
around us are ... looking at
our blue tag (certification)
system and looking to rep-
licate it or improve it,” he
said. “Idaho needs to adopt
a nightshade field standard
... because other states that
are after our business are
(doing that.)”
The nightshade field
standard debate is still in the
talking stages and the state’s
bean advisory committee
would have to recommend
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Dry beans are sorted at the Treasure Valley Seed Co. facility in
Homedale, Idaho, last September. Idaho’s dry bean industry is
mulling whether to adopt a fi eld standard for the troublesome night-
shade weed. Supporters of the idea say it’s necessary to ensure
the state’s dry bean seed certifi cation process remains competitive.
that rule change during its
fall meeting, said Doug
Boze, executive vice presi-
dent of Idaho Crop Improve-
ment Association, which
supervises Idaho’s crop cer-
tification program.
Any proposed change
would then have to be ap-
proved by the Idaho Legis-
lature.
Parma grower Mike Good-
son, an IBC board member,
said it’s likely the state will
need to move toward a night-
shade fi eld standard to keep
pace with other states that are
doing that.
“To what extreme, I don’t
know right now,” he said.
“But I think we have to start
progressing toward some-
thing if we’re going to (re-
main) competitive.”
Twin Falls grower Bill
Bitzenburg, also a member of
the IBC board, said the idea is
good in theory but he worries
about the extra costs it could
add to dry bean production
since nightshade pressure is
so severe in some places that
many farmers would struggle
to meet any fi eld standard.
“I know I couldn’t meet
(any standard),” he said. “It’s
a great idea in theory. It’s just
the practical applications, the
consequences of doing it that
I’m concerned about.”
There’s already zero tol-
erance for nightshade in lab-
oratory tests, “so what are
we gaining other than being
able to advertise that we’ve
raised our standards?” Bit-
zenburg added. “I think we
need more input from grow-
ers because it will affect
them the most.”
IBC board member Gina
Lohnes, who works for Trin-
idad Benham Corp., said the
state’s entire dry bean indus-
try is already working hard to
try to eliminate the weed in
fields.
“I’m not sure if naming a
certain maximum tolerance
level would be any better
than what we’re doing right
now,” she said. “I think
fi nding ways to help grow-
ers control it is a better place
for us to put our time and
effort.”
Apple commission Apple commission leader promotes use of logo
sets its annual budget
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
The Washington Apple Com-
mission adopted a $10.4 mil-
lion budget for the fi scal year
beginning July 1 at its May 19
meeting.
The budget is up $270,000
from the estimated fi nal
spending for 2015-2016. Re-
serves are still at $3 million.
The new spending plan in-
cludes $5.6 million in federal
and state grants with $5.1 mil-
lion of that being federal Mar-
ket Access Program money —
known by the acronym MAP
— for export promotions.
The other major portion of
revenue is $4.7 million in an-
ticipated grower assessments
of 3.5 cents per box of fresh
packed apples based on an es-
timated 135-million-box crop
this fall.
At the commission’s For-
eign Trade Committee meet-
ing in Ellensburg on April 21,
estimates of the 2016 crop
size ranged from 116 million
to 153 million 40-pound box-
es, with most at 132 million to
135 million, said Cass Geb-
bers, committee chairman and
president of Gebbers Farms in
Brewster, Wash.
A year ago the commis-
sion estimated the 2015 crop
at 125 million boxes. It’s now
estimated at 115.8 million
boxes and will change more
depending on packouts before
the season closes.
The new budget allocates
$5.1 million in MAP money
and $2.6 million of grower
assessment funds for a total
of $7.7 million for export pro-
motions.
Of that, Mexico heads the
list at $1.2 million, India is at
$1.1 million, China and Hong
Kong are at $858,000, Viet-
nam is at $580,000, Indone-
sia is at $550,000 and Central
America is at $540,000.
Others in descending or-
der are: Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, Taiwan, Middle
East, Colombia, Peru, West-
ern Europe, the United King-
dom, Canada and Russia.
At the Foreign Trade
Committee meeting, Geb-
bers raised the possibility of
companies opening a World
Trade Organization case over
anti-dumping tariffs placed on
some Washington apple com-
panies by Mexico.
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
Washington Apple Commis-
sion President Todd Fryhover
is urging tree fruit marketers
to make greater use of the ge-
neric Washington apple logo
to increase exports.
He touted co-branding
and selective branding of the
logo at a May 19 commission
meeting in Wenatchee, noting
that per capita consumption of
Washington apples has been
increasing.
Co-branding is use of the
generic Washington apple
logo — an apple with the
name “Washington” over it —
along with an individual fruit
company logo on the same
PLU — the acronym for price
look-up — sticker on an indi-
vidual piece of fruit.
Selective branding is use
of the generic Washington
logo instead of company lo-
gos on fruit for specifi c mar-
kets.
The commission has in-
vested $650 million over the
past 75 years in promotional
activities supporting the logo,
including domestic promo-
tions before 2003.
The commission has con-
Courtesy of Northern Fruit Co.
Northern Fruit Co., East
Wenatchee, Wash., will be us-
ing new co-branded stickers on
apples this season that show
the company’s Nordic bear and
the Washington apple logo.
Previously, Northern just used
the Washington logo.
ducted only export promo-
tions since losing its legal sta-
tus for domestic promotions
in 2003. The generic logo is
highly regarded in foreign
markets.
“It’s the not the importer
and wholesaler we are con-
cerned about recognizing our
fruit. They see it on the box-
es. It’s not as obvious at the
consumer level because fruit
is sold mixed in bins and sig-
nage is diffi cult,” Fryhover
said. “The generic Washing-
ton sticker helps identity and
builds consumer continuity.”
Exports need to increase,
he said, because world ap-
ple production is rising while
trade barriers and other issues
are slowing world fresh apple
exports.
Markets will become sat-
urated and Washington apple
companies, a small part of
the international market, are
stronger together under a sin-
gle brand than separately, Fry-
hover said.
World production is pro-
jected to increase from the
current 80 million to 100 mil-
lion metric tons by 2025, he
said.
Meanwhile, world fresh
apple exports have been
about 8.5 million metric tons
since 2010 because of eco-
nomic slowdowns in many
markets.
Protectionism in China,
India, Indonesia, Mexico and
the European Union and a ban
on Western produce by Russia
have slowed exports, he said.
Russia was the world’s
largest importer of fresh ap-
ples but its ban, imposed
Aug. 7, 2014, in retaliation
for Western sanctions for
its aggression in Ukraine,
has left European suppliers
scrambling for other markets
while their production in-
creases, Fryhover said.
Russia receives some
gray-market apples but overall
its ban has caused a global mar-
ket disappearance for about 30
million apples, he said.
Washington apple exports
to India have fallen a dramatic
62 percent because of a strong
dollar, Indian port closures now
resolved and a 50 percent tariff,
Fryhover said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if
our 2014 volume into India (5.6
million boxes) may be our all-
time high,” he said.
Washington has exported
1.9 million boxes of apples to
India this season as of May 15,
he said, noting that to fi nish at
2.5 million boxes would be
good.
“India is important because
it’s a Red Delicious-only mar-
ket and we will need to export
Reds and Gala in greater num-
bers in the future,” he said.
The commission will con-
tinue to fund export promo-
tions in India at $1.1 million.
It takes a lot because it’s a
large country geographically.
Washington’s apple ex-
ports will fi nish this season at
about 26 to 28 percent of the
crop, down from a norm of 30
percent mainly because of a
strong dollar, he said.