Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2018)
June 29, 2018 CapitalPress.com 9 Farmers want to replace declining groundwater with Columbia River water TREATY from Page 1 The stakes are enormous. The Columbia Basin includes 15.4 million acres of farm- land in Oregon and Washing- ton that produce crops worth $7.8 billion a year. The high- est-producing farmland, near- ly 1.7 million acres, is irrigat- ed, according to the USDA Census of Agriculture. Kagele and other farmers want to replace the declining groundwater with Columbia River water under the federal Columbia Basin Project. Con- gress in 1933 authorized 1.03 million acres of farmland in the basin to receive Columbia River water under the project. Currently only about 671,000 acres receive the river water, while the remainder depend on wells that are now declin- ing. “If we ever want to get a little more water out to the Wikimedia Commons farmers and shut the rest of these wells off ... the treaty The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington state is one of the 28 dams included in the U.S.-Canada treaty. has to make room for that,” Kagele said. Columbia River Facts • Average annual flow at Asto- ria: 198 million acre-feet (the fourth largest river in North America by volume.) • Length: 1,243 miles long (12th longest in U.S.) • Source: Columbia Lake, British Columbia. • Number of tributaries: More than 60. • Total water taken out for mu- nicipal use: 433,418 acre-feet per year in Washington state. • Total water take out for agri- culture: 10.1 million acre-feet per year. • Amount of power produced: Combined, all of the dams on the river and its tributaries generated 29 gigawatts, about 44 percent of the total hydroelectric generation in U.S. in 2012. • Total number of known fish and wildlife species: 609. • Number of endangered fish species: 13. U.S. priorities Work on updating the treaty has been underway for years. The Bonneville Pow- er Administration and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made regional recommenda- tions in 2013 that were devel- oped through consultations with federal agencies, states, Native American tribes and other stakeholders. “We are not in a position to go into great detail on the agenda or discuss U.S. nego- tiating positions at this time, but we continue to use the 2013 Regional Recommen- dation as a guide,” said a U.S. Department of State repre- sentative for Western Hemi- sphere Affairs, who spoke on background. She said key U.S. objec- tives include: • Continued, careful man- agement of flood risk. • Ensuring a reliable and economical power supply. • Better addressing the ecosystem. Maintaining navigation, recreation, irrigation and mu- nicipal and industrial use of the river is vital to the econo- my of the region, she said. Three dams in British Co- lumbia and one dam in Mon- tana were built as a result of the treaty, and 24 others fall under the treaty’s purview. Other dams along the Co- lumbia and Snake rivers are operated by the U.S. Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Rec- lamation and individual utili- ties and utility districts. “There are no current dis- cussions regarding the num- ber of dams as part of the modernization of the treaty regime,” the spokeswoman said. Canada priorities The treaty has provided “extensive” benefits to both Canada and the U.S., and is an example of the strong bilateral cooperation between the two countries, said John Babcock, spokesman for Global Affairs Canada, which manages Can- ada’s diplomatic relations and promotes international trade. “Canada is committed to working with the U.S. to Derek Sandison Mike Schwisow Tom Tebb Kristin Meira modernize the agreement and to ensuring that it continues to provide shared, equitable ben- efits to both countries,” Bab- cock said. “Canada has been working closely with First Nations and basin communi- ties to identify opportunities to further improve environ- mental conditions in the Ca- nadian portion of the basin.” necessary for irrigation during the summer, when flows are lowest. “If you don’t have water now and you hope some day that you will, it’s a very high priority,” he said. their homes and caused more than 50 deaths, according to the Army Corps and Bonne- ville Power Administration. The magnitude of the flood added a sense of urgency to the international discussions of flood control between the U.S. and Canada. Under the treaty, the U.S. depends on 8.95 million acre- feet of assured water storage behind Canadian dams to re- duce spring runoff, said Der- ek Sandison, director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture and former di- rector of Ecology’s Columbia River office. That guarantee goes away in 2024. A new “called upon and effective use” provision is scheduled to kick in, meaning that before asking Canadian dam managers to store runoff, the U.S. would need to make use of all its dams and reser- voirs for flood control. That means reducing the water level in U.S. reservoirs in an- ticipation of storing the spring runoff, Sandison said. “It’s that whole notion of really drawing down our reservoirs and hoping we get the March (runoff) fore- cast right,” he said. If they’re wrong, the river flow could be too low to meet all water us- ers’ needs. “Predictability in river op- erations is very important,” he said. “The more we can get back to a predictable arrange- ment, the better for water sup- ply.” If and when the U.S. asks for Canadian dams to store spring runoff, the U.S. would also have to pay, Sandison said. At this point in the nego- tiations it’s not clear how such payments would be struc- tured. There must also at least be a pathway to use additional water supplies in non-treaty reservoirs that have been built by Canada beyond the current terms of the treaty, Sandison said. Oregon and Washington officials think such access is possible, but know it won’t be free, he said. “Certainly we hold out hope that could be possible,” he said. Irrigation Tom Tebb, director of the Office of the Columbia Riv- er for the Washington State Department of Ecology, es- timates tens of thousands of farmers and others use the Columbia River. More than 1 million acres of farms and scores of com- munities take water directly from the river, Tebb said. Cities that get their drink- ing water from the river include Revelstoke, B.C.; Wenatchee, Wash.; the Tri-Cities; The Dalles, Ore.; Vancouver, Wash., and Port- land. Water for the entire Co- lumbia Basin Project, about 6.4 million acre-feet, is re- served in water rights, said Mike Schwisow, director of government relations for the Columbia Basin Develop- ment League. However, the ability to draw water from the river de- pends on maintaining flows necessary for fish populations protected under the Endan- gered Species Act, such as salmon. When further development is possible, dams will need to maintain flows for the riv- er and still allow irrigation projects to withdraw water, Schwisow said. Schwisow doesn’t expect this to be a specific provision of the treaty, but the league hopes for enough flexibili- ty to work with Canada and provide the amount of water ‘It’s going to be tough going, but we’ll be able to get through’ KLAMATH from Page 1 Scott White, executive director of the Klamath Wa- ter Users Association, said it has been a “crazy, crazy year” but nothing in the latest op- erations plan caught him by surprise. “It’s going to be tough go- ing, but we’ll be able to get through,” White said. “In a drought year, that’s all you can really ask for.” The big question now, White said, is whether the Klamath Tribes win an in- junction to hold more water in Upper Klamath Lake to protect endangered Lost Riv- er and shortnose suckers. The tribes sued the Bureau of Reclamation, National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice in May. A hearing sched- uled for July 11 before Judge William Orrick in San Fran- cisco has since been resched- uled for Friday, July 20. The KWUA has also filed a mo- tion seeking to have the case dismissed, arguing it should be heard in a different venue. Tribal harvest of suckers decreased from more than 10,000 to 687 between 1968 and 1985, and today just two fish are harvested for cere- monial purposes. But if the injunction succeeds, White said it would essentially shut down the Klamath Project. “All the dollars put into the land thus far would be wasted,” he said. A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Reclamation said she cannot comment on pend- ing litigation. Navigation More than 50 million tons of wheat and other crops and products valued at more than $24 billion were barged or transported by container ship and bulk freighter on the Co- lumbia-Snake river system in 2016, according to the Pacific Northwest Waterways Associ- ation. The association’s execu- tive director, Kristin Meira, says she is comfortable with the state department’s under- standing of the river system and what it means for U.S. freight. Thirty-four ports dot the Columbia-Snake river sys- tem, from Astoria, Ore., to Lewiston, Idaho, Meira said. The Snake River is a tributary and not directly included in the treaty, she said. She hopes the treaty can stand on its own, separate from recent political tension between President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “We are a region that is known for working well to- gether,” she said. “I hope this continues to be the case when it comes to the treaty, too. It’s been a model for cross-bor- der coordination for so many years.” Flood control The treaty was original- ly negotiated after a spring flood in 1948 caused major damage along the river from Trail, B.C., to Vanport, Ore. Vanport, one of the largest cities in Oregon at the time, was destroyed. The flood dis- placed 30,000 people from Electricity The Columbia is the larg- est hydropower-producing river in North America. According to the Corps and Bonneville Power Admin- istration, treaty negotiators in the early 1960s agreed that the U.S. and Canada would equally share downstream power benefits, the increased power generation in the U.S. allowed by the additional storage capacity of the three dams built in Canada. The benefits are calculated annual- ly according to a complex for- mula that uses the theoretical value placed on the additional generation of electricity made possible by the Canadian dams. Canada’s half is called the Canadian Entitlement. The Corps and BPA also believe the Canadian Enti- tlement has more than repaid Canada’s cost of building the three dams, they said in their 2013 review of the treaty. Ecosystem Native American tribes and public comments have demanded more attention to the environment, said Tebb, of Ecology’s Office of the Co- lumbia River. “We value aquatic resourc- es and the salmon as much as we value the farmer and the agricultural economy and val- ue our farmers bring to mar- ket,” Tebb said. Tebb pointed to a U.S. district court order in 2016 to study new alternatives to protect endangered fish and address ongoing flow issues in various tributaries. “Everyone wants a piece of this river, and we’re just going to have to manage it wisely and be thoughtful to all of those interests,” he said. It’s not yet clear how a fo- cus on the ecosystem would affect irrigation, navigation or recreation, Sandison said. Environmental advocates want water flows increased during salmon migration pe- riods. They’re also worried about water quality during the summer when the flow is lowest. Impacts on agriculture de- pend on how much water is pushed out and when, Sandi- son said. “If you push out water in the spring, it’s not there in the summer or early fall,” when it’s needed for irrigation, he said. The future Kagele, the Odessa farmer, took his first look June 20 at construction work on the first of at least eight pump stations designed to help farmers draw Columbia River water from the East Low Canal. The EL 47.5 pump station is slated to start operations in the spring of 2020 and will serve five farms. Kagele has high hopes for the completion of the Co- lumbia Basin Project and, as the Columbia River Treaty is renegotiated, the continued availability of the river’s wa- ter for hundreds and hundreds of other irrigators like him across Washington state, Ore- gon and Idaho. But for him, the Columbia River isn’t just about water. It’s also about his family. “I expect to be long gone and six feet under by the time this is all worked out, truthful- ly,” said Kagele, who plans to transfer the farm to his son in the next few years. “As long as we’re working towards that goal, I’m a happy person. Do- ing some good for my grand- children and their children — my goal has been met.” Most of central Oregon is listed in moderate to severe drought WILDFIRES from Page 1 Local ranchers, including Pechanec, quickly banded together to protect their homes and livestock, using their own bulldozers and equipment to dig fire breaks and evacuating cattle to safety south of the inferno. “All the ranches, we took pretty much everything we had,” Pechanec said. “It was really kind of heartfelt.” Pechanec recalls how the flames approached just 150 yards or so from his home in Willowdale, about 12 miles north of Madras in rural Jef- ferson County. With help from his neighbors, they dug dozer lines and performed a back burn to hold the fire at bay. Since the fires started, Pechan- ec estimated 40-50 volunteers have come from as far as Shaniko and An- telope to lend a hand — most of them local ranchers, friends and families — along with professional firefight- ers from the Bureau of Land Manage- ment. As of June 26, the Boxcar fire was 60 percent contained and the Jack Knife fire was 80 percent contained. Firefighters expect to have both fires fully contained by July 6. “We’re looking really good,” Pechanec said. “I think we’re going to be OK.” The rangeland, however, could take some time recover. Pechan- ec said the fires have scorched all 12,000 acres of the ranch’s BLM range, along with 2,500 to 3,000 acres of private grassland owned by Robert Pamplin. Without that land available to graze, Pechanec said he will like- ly have to turn to the hay pile while doubling the rotation rate for his un- burned pastures to avoid overgrazing. Pechanec estimated he may lose up to $30,000 this year on his hay costs, and pastures where he would normal- ly leave cattle for three weeks he will instead rotate after a week and a half. “Everybody has to be out in the cattle, checking the rangeland and checking the grass,” he said. “You’re just going to have to make sure that stubble doesn’t get down below 2 to 3 inches so we can have regrowth for next year.” Justin Rodgers, a rangeland man- agement specialist for the BLM in Prineville, said that, in general terms, the agency allows for two years of rest on burned land to allow time for rehabilitation. Staff will work with individual ranchers to accommodate grazing needs and discuss appropri- ate land management moving for- ward. “That’s the big thing there, just getting the land back to pre-fire con- ditions as best we can,” Rodgers said. “It’s definitely a case-by-case situation. Every range is in different condition before the fire. Each land- owner or permittee has different flex- ibility or livestock grazing operations going on.” Meanwhile, Pechanec said it has been two months since the last con- siderable rainfall at the ranch, and conditions remain bone dry. “We are running tremendously low on water and feed,” he said. “We have no green left.” Most of central Oregon is listed in moderate to severe drought, ac- cording to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Central and southern Oregon can ex- pect above-normal potential for addi- tional wildfires heading into July and August, according to the National In- teragency Fire Center.
