April 6, 2018
CapitalPress.com
5
Washington’s snowpack
remains above normal
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
MOUNT
VERNON,
Wash. — Washington state’s
mountain snowpack con-
tinued to improve through
March, just as it did during
the second half of February.
Statewide snowpack was
113 percent of normal on
April 3, up from 109 percent
on March 2 and 100 percent
on Feb. 5, said Scott Pattee,
state water supply specialist
for the USDA Natural Re-
sources Conservation Ser-
vice in Mount Vernon.
“It’s a combination of
some good storms and be-
ing cool enough to keep
snowpack intact. We’ve
had slightly above normal
snowfall in the mountains in
March. As long as we have
no big rapid warmup, we’ll
be in good shape,” Pattee
said.
The Climate Predic-
tion Center of the National
Weather Service is predict-
ing equal chances of above
and below normal tempera-
tures and precipitation in
Washington for the next
three months, he said. Good
snowpack is critical for sum-
mer irrigation of farmland.
The Yakima Basin’s 464,000
irrigated acres, mostly farm-
land, includes the area most
George Plaven/Capital Press
Alex Paraskevas was hired in February by SEDCOR as a rural
innovation catalyst, helping to make connections for agriculture
and technology in the Mid-Willamette Valley. He also focuses
on business retention and expansion for Polk County, Ore.
New SEDCOR
position focuses
on ag , technology
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Mission Ridge Ski Area south of Wenatchee, Wash., on March 30. The ski area and almost all of the
Cascade Mountains received plentiful snowfall through March.
vulnerable in drought years.
The five mountain res-
ervoirs serving the Yakima
Basin were at 75 percent of
capacity and at 120.5 per-
cent of average for this time
of year, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation.
The reservoirs’ inflow
from Oct. 1 to April 1 was
791,000 acre-feet and 119
percent of average and re-
leases were 351,000 acre-feet
and 118 percent of average.
Releases were accelerat-
ed to aid downstream pas-
sage of fish smolts but the
reservoirs are on target to
be full about the end of May
for maximum help for sum-
mer irrigation, said Douglas
Call, USBR Yakima River
operator.
Pattee said he would have
April 1 through September
state streamflow forecasts
calculated by April 6 and
that they should be normal
or above normal.
Snow water equivalent
snowpack in the Spokane
basin was 120 percent of
normal on Feb. 3. The up-
per Columbia (Okanogan
and Methow rivers) was
136 percent. The central Co-
lumbia (Chelan, Entiat and
Wenatchee) was 108, the
upper Yakima was 100 and
the lower Yakima 101. Wal-
la Walla was 102, the lower
Snake River was 116, the
lower Columbia was 108,
south Puget Sound (from
Cascade crest to lowlands)
was 98, central Puget Sound
114, north Puget Sound 124
and the Olympics 116. Ex-
cept for the Olympics, they
were all the same or higher
than a month earlier.
Irrigators pursue Bureau of Reclamation assets
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
KENNEWICK, Wash. —
The Kennewick Irrigation
District is obtaining title to
some of its canals and in-
frastructure from the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, and
its members are considering
whether to seek the rest.
Title transfer will give the
district control over assets it
has paid nearly $4.6 million
for on a lease-loan over the
past 65 years and will bene-
fit the local community, said
Charles Freeman, KID man-
ager.
“We have 300 land prop-
erty transfers a month. The
bureau can’t keep up with
that work. Developers have
waited over a year for ease-
ments,” Freeman said.
Easements have to be
processed when properties
are sold and released in cas-
es where they’ve never been
used. USBR has one person
for such work for the entire
Yakima Basin whereas KID
has five engineers handling
subdivisions, Freeman said.
The city of Kennewick
is seeking “linear parks” —
rights-of-way on top of en-
closed canals for use as rec-
reational trails, he said. It’s
almost impossible for USBR
to approve such a request, but
KID would allow it, he said.
KID already does all the
maintenance on the system
and is liable for it, so why not
own it? he said. The district
has 62 full-time employees
Dan Wheat/Capital Press File
The Yakima River flows through Prosser, Wash., to the Prosser
Dam. The 6-megawatt hydroelectric dam could be transferred from
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to the Kennewick Irrigation District
as part of the second phase of a facility transfer contemplated by
the district.
and an $11 million annual
operating budget.
A year ago, the KID board
directed staff to explore title
transfer. Staff recommended
a two-phase approach with
phase one being the transfer
of 74 miles of canals with
laterals, pumps, drains and
wasteways downstream from
the headworks at Chandler
Pump Station, which is 11.2
miles east of Prosser.
In February, KID and
USBR signed an agree-
ment and KID paid USBR
$115,000 for USBR’s portion
of a consultant’s review of
the phase one title transfer.
KID owes $480,000 on
the original $4.6 million, ze-
ro-interest loan from 1953
that’s scheduled to be paid
off in 2024. KID will pay it
off early, possibly in a year,
as part of the process of
Congress approving phase
one title transfer, Freeman
said. Being early, the amount
may end up a little lower, he
said.
Phase two, which is still
being considered, would in-
clude the dam at Prosser, fish
screens, the 11.2-mile diver-
sion canal from the Yakima
River to Chandler Pump
Station, two six-megawatt
hydroelectric generators, as-
sociated water rights and a
mile-long, 99-inch diameter
siphon that carries water un-
der the river and Interstate
82 from hydropumps to the
canal.
“The easy stuff is in the
first phase and phase two
concerns fisheries and tribes.
We need their support. It may
not be in KID’s interest to
take phase two. We’re not
committed yet,” Freeman
said.
The generators produce
about $1 million worth of
electricity annually with that
revenue going to the bureau,
he said. If KID owned the
generators and had the reve-
nue it likely would be spent
on deferred maintenance of
the facility, he said.
Freeman testified before
the U.S. House Natural Re-
sources Committee’s sub-
committee on Water, Power
and Oceans on Feb. 14. Title
transfer approval could oc-
cur in a bill for the KID or a
broader bill taking in other
items nationwide.
As a separate project,
the district is nearing com-
pletion of the preliminary
design for electrification of
the Chandler Pumping Plant.
Congress authorized approx-
imately $24 million for the
project in 1994.
KID, however, can do the
work for less money and is
negotiating to have the re-
maining $20 million of the
authorization credited to
KID, which might use it to
acquire 9,000 acre-feet of
bureau water in Lake Roos-
evelt, Freeman said.
Currently,
Chandler
Pumping Plant is powered
by water pressure. During
droughts there’s not enough
pressure and the district loses
its water supply. Electrifica-
tion would avoid that.
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
At the intersection of
agriculture and technology,
Alex Paraskevas sees major
potential for the Mid-Willa-
mette Valley.
The greatest advance-
ments may not come from
the slickest machines,
Paraskevas said, but from
data mining solutions to
help local growers make the
best possible management
decisions.
“Margins are slim, time
is short and people don’t
necessarily want to go out
on a limb,” Paraskevas said.
“We’re trying to be the glue,
holding things together.”
Paraskevas was hired in
February by the Strategic
Economic
Development
Corporation, or SEDCOR,
as a regional innovation cat-
alyst, focusing particularly
on building bridges between
the agriculture and technol-
ogy industries.
Recently, tech giant Intel
teamed with Rogue Ales on
a project at the brewery’s
hops farm in Independence,
Ore., tracking environ-
mental conditions aboard
trucks as the sensitive crop
is hauled north to Portland.
Though
Paraskevas
cannot talk about specific
proposals in the pipeline —
they are closely guarded se-
crets, discussed using code
names — he believes the
collaboration between Intel
and Rogue Ales may be just
the beginning. His job, he
said, is to continue building
that culture and momentum.
“We’re trying to create
an environment where two
individuals can talk to each
other, where they might not
talk to each other normally,”
Paraskevas said. “We would
love for this to become sort
of a test bed innovation
area.”
SEDCOR, which serves
members in Marion, Polk
and Yamhill counties, hired
Paraskevas with support
from a two-year, $50,000
grant from the Ford Family
Foundation. He previously
worked 10 years at Willa-
mette University in Salem,
Ore., serving as assistant
director of alumni communi-
cation and then as the asso-
ciate director of research and
prospect management under
University Advancement.
In addition to being a re-
gional innovation catalyst,
Paraskevas will be respon-
sible for business reten-
tion and expansion in Polk
County. He is already work-
ing closely with Shawn
Irvine, economic develop-
ment director for the city of
Independence, on its Smart
Rural Community effort,
encouraging the growth
of agricultural technology
businesses.
“Alex brings an inquis-
itive mind and go-getter
attitude,” Irvine said in
a statement shortly after
Paraskevas was hired. “He
is quick to see connections
and understand what peo-
ple need. I’m excited to get
started and see where we
can go together.”
Paraskevas, 33, is a na-
tive of the area, graduating
from South Salem High
School in 2002 and from
the University of Oregon
in 2006. Both of his parents
are professors at Western
Oregon University in Mon-
mouth, Ore.
Paraskevas readily ad-
mits he has little to no
background in agriculture.
He describes himself as the
“typical Salemite,” not ful-
ly aware of where his food
comes from. But he said he
is learning fast as he goes.
“It’s fun to be learning
the nuts and bolts of all the
different commodities in
this area,” Paraskevas said.
SEDCOR
President
Chad Freeman said they are
excited to have Paraskevas
aboard.
“We are excited to see
where his energy, enthusi-
asm and knowledge takes
us as we work directly with
business to grow jobs for
Polk County and the re-
gion,” Freeman said.
Moving
forward,
Paraskevas said there is
no real agenda for his po-
sition, other than to foster
participation and coopera-
tion that could lead to big
developments down the
road.
“It’s just building more
of a formal pipeline for this
kind of stuff to come out,”
he said. “Necessity is truly
the mother of all invention
for (farmers). They don’t
care what necessarily it
looks like. They just need to
get the job done.”
Employees buy Ward Rugh hay company
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
ELLENSBURG, Wash. —
Three employees of the oldest
hay company in Ellensburg
have bought the firm from the
family who started it 84 years
ago.
Corey Rogers, Andy
Schmidt and Craig Leishman
bought Ward Rugh Inc. from
Rollie and Marla Bernth on
March 6 for an undisclosed
price. Marla’s father, Ward
Rugh, started the company in
1934 as a trucking concern and
moved into hay. Rugh died in
1995.
“Our business philosophy
will not change as we move for-
ward. We will continue the leg-
acy of Ward Rugh Inc., which
is known around the world for
supplying the highest quality
Timothy and alfalfa hay,” said
Corey Rogers, new president.
“The foundation of this
highly reputable business is
stronger than ever due to the
conservative business philos-
Courtesy of Ward Rugh Inc.
From left are Andy Schmidt, Corey Rogers and Craig Leishman, new
owners of the Ward Rugh Inc. hay company in Ellensburg, Wash.
ophy which Rollie and Marla
Bernth created,” Rogers said.
Customers, growers and
those in business relationships
with Ward Rugh Inc. won’t
notice much difference as the
three partners continue their
same roles while taking new
titles, he said.
Schmidt, vice president and
treasurer, will continue han-
dling purchasing in Kittitas
County and domestic sales.
Leishman, vice president and
secretary, will continue with
Columbia Basin purchasing
and South Korean sales. Rog-
ers, president, will continue as
general manager and with sales
to Japan.
The three have a combined
60 years of experience and
knowledge working at Ward
Rugh Inc.
Joe Wahle, a 32-year em-
ployee, will continue as truck
dispatcher to the ports of Ta-
coma and Seattle, safety offi-
cer and fleet manager, Rogers
said.
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