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Friday, December 20, 2019 CapitalPress.com 9 Water rights, emergency cleanup Washington ag director: Agency legislation expected in Idaho monitoring impact statement By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Water rights adjudi- cation, and emergency water cleanup will likely be among proposals the 2020 legislature considers, said Paul Arrington, Idaho Water Users Association executive director and gen- eral counsel. Water policy is critical to the state’s economy. Ensur- ing an adequate supply for agriculture is particularly important in arid south and south-central regions that have extensive irrigation systems. “Idaho’s water-user community is fortunate to have strong support from the governor’s office and legislature on water issues,” Arrington said. Elected officials historically “have worked tirelessly to facil- itate agreements resolving disputes over the use of Ida- ho’s water, and have enacted legislation to further protect these resources.” Recent examples include a settlement between sur- face-water and groundwa- ter users resulting in signif- icant efforts to protect and restore the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, and a land- mark settlement agreement involving the use of storage water in the Boise River Basin seen as greatly bene- fiting irrigators, municipal- ities and other interests in growing southwest Idaho. Arrington expects pro- posed legislation to create a water-rights adjudication for the Bear River Basin. Bear River in the south- east and Kootenai River in the north are the only basins in the state that do not have Idaho’s Capitol an authorized adjudica- tion, a court-like proceed- ing to identify and catalog all water rights. Shelley Keen, IDWR water allocation bureau chief, said the Bear River Basin has seen serious dis- cussions again this year about authorizing an adjudication “and there may be a proposal this year.” The department has been meeting with water users and local and regional gov- ernment officials to discuss when the time might be right to adjudicate the Koo- tenai Basin, he said. “But the department is not pursu- ing a legislative proposal in the 2020 session.” IDWR’s three-phase Northern Idaho Adju- dications comprise the nearly completed Coeur d’Alene-Spokane River Adjudication, the Palouse River Adjudication — for which water users started filing claims this year — and a planned Clark Fork- Pend Oreille Adjudication. “In the department bud- get this year, there will be intent language seeking authorization for spending authority to commence the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille Adjudication in the 2021 time frame,” Keen said. Also related to water rights, a bill on emergency cleanup is anticipated, Arrington said. It would amend state law to allow the Idaho Department of Envi- ronmental Quality to start emergency water cleanup without first obtaining a water right. “The pending amend- ment requires that IDEQ and IDWR coordinate efforts to ensure that nec- essary cleanup occurs with minimal impacts to water users,” he said. The con- cern is that if there is a spill, such as diesel into a water source, “the delay of having to acquire a water right creates a much bigger problem. This eliminates a potential delay in clean- ing up contaminated water sources.” An expected IDWR- sponsored bill would per- mit water records to be elec- tronically received, filed, recorded or retained. Many are on paper now. “This will improve efficiency when submitting or reviewing documents with IDWR,” Arrington said. Water users have also been discussing ground- water management areas, but it’s uncertain if legis- lation will be proposed, he said. IDWR in early Novem- ber 2016 issued an order designating the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer as a GWMA. The special desig- nation provides additional administrative protections to aquifers determined to be “approaching the con- ditions of a critical ground water area,” essentially meaning inflow hasn’t been enough to keep up with out- flow, Arrington said. By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — Washington’s agriculture department is bird-dogging federal agen- cies as they write an envi- ronmental impact statement that could determine the fate of four dams on the lower Snake River. The department is “kind of almost look- ing over their shoulder and critiquing some of the conclusions and ways in which they Derek conduct Sandison their analy- ses,” WSDA director Derek Sandison said, calling it “a very active pro- cess right now.” The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Recla- mation and Bonneville Power Administration are prepar- ing an environmental impact statement in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act on the operation, maintenance and configura- tions for 14 federal projects in the Columbia River Sys- tem in the interior Columbia River Basin. U.S. District Judge Michael Simon required the EIS as part of a lawsuit over protected fish species, includ- ing an alternative focused on removal of the four Snake River dams and their impacts. The agriculture depart- ment, state Department of Fish and Wildlife and state Department of Ecology are cooperating agencies, which means they work with the people preparing the EIS, Sandison said. Four dams on the Snake River — Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite — have a “bull’s eye on their back” from some environmental groups, Sandison said. “Although we’re nowhere near a decision on whether or not dams should stay in place on the Snake River, it’s sort of been ginned up as an issue that is ripe for discussion,” he said. The judge’s ruling will have a long-term effect on how the river system is oper- ated, including pool levels. Sandison said he has some concerns about the method- ology used in the analysis of impact of the loss of the river navigation system in the EIS, for example. Those concerns will be brought up, he said. “That’s something that cer- tainly would be scrutinized, because the ability to move agricultural products from Lewiston, Idaho, to Portland and Vancouver is very import- ant to big segments of our ag industry,” he said. Sandison said he’s more concerned about future uses, needs and options impacted by the EIS. The surface water can be used to replace declining well water in the Odessa Subarea, “the better to have essentially no impact” from the environ- mental impact statement, he said. Sandison spoke during the Washington Potato Summit Dec. 11 in Airway Heights, Wash. He also discussed other water issues: Second half of the Columbia Basin Project: The East High Canal was originally intended to be built to complete the federal proj- ect. Groundwater rights were issued in Odessa under the assumption it would be built. In 2012, the cost was cal- culated to be $5 billion. The conveyance system would need 18 miles of canal before reaching the first customer. “What can you grow that would pay for a project that expensive?” Sandison said. “Right now, it just doesn’t pencil.” But commodity prices are dictated by global sup- ply. Sandison pointed to the need to double the global food supply in the next 40 years on roughly the same amount of land and water as today. The project will make more sense in the future, he said. “I think it’s a matter of time,” he said. “It’s not a matter of if, it probably will happen at some point in the future, just not in the near-future. We’re saying, ‘Finish Odessa first. Get that 90,000 acres watered up, and then let’s talk about going out to the next project to the East High Canal.’” Columbia River Treaty: In 2024, the basic provisions of the treaty change related to flood-risk management. Right now, the U.S. can rely on Canadian reservoirs to hold back 8.95 million acre- feet. Unless the treaty is modified, that assured stor- age will go away, meaning the U.S. will need to rely more heavily on its reser- voirs in Washington to pre- vent significant flooding. Lake Roosevelt is a 6.4 million acre-foot storage reservoir. The entire Colum- bia Basin Project depends on that reservoir to ensure the ability to deliver water throughout the growing sea- son, Sandison said. Amalgamated Sugar parent gets new chairman By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press Amalgamated Sugar’s parent cooperative of beet growers has a new board chairman for the first time in more than a decade. Members of the Snake River Sugar Co. cooper- ative, which owns Boi- se-based Amalgamated Sugar Co. LLC, on Dec. 4 elected Mike Garner of Raft River to succeed Duane Grant of Rupert. Both Idaho growers are board veterans. Garner was elected to the board in 2008 and for the past 10 years served as governance committee chairman. “I am excited for the chal- lenge that lies ahead, and I am extremely grateful for Duane Grant’s leadership,” he said in an interview. The company “has never been in as strong a position as it is. He has accom- plished many great, challenging tasks. I will benefit from Mike his leader- Garner ship, and I am going to try to just keep everything moving forward.” Amalgamated is the sec- ond-largest U.S. sugar beet processor. It produces about 12% of the nation’s sugar. Its roughly 750 member farmers grow about 180,000 acres of beets in Idaho, Ore- gon and Washington. The company owns three Idaho sugar factories (Nampa, Twin Falls, Paul), employs about 1,600 people and con- tributes around 1.7% of Ida- ho’s Gross State Product. A subsidiary, Amalgamated Research LLC, provides process technology to sugar beet and other manufactur- ing companies. “We have an extremely talented management team that works for the company, from the CEO down, and that is one of the strengths of our business,” Garner said. Staff, growers and board members “strive to make the right decisions based on the economics of our industry and be the most profitable we can be … it’s a balance between ongoing costs and trying to deliver a strong beet payment to our growers.” He has farmed in the Raft River area since 1970 and is a third-generation sugar beet grower. He also has developed expertise in dairy, cattle and agricultur- al-service industries. Galen Lee, a board member from New Plym- outh, Idaho, said Garner is well-qualified to lead. Oregon Wheat names new CEO By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Amanda Hoey will begin work as CEO of the Ore- gon Wheat Commission and Oregon Wheat Growers League beginning Jan. 2. She is currently execu- tive director of the Mid-Co- lumbia Economic Develop- ment District, headquartered in The Dalles, Ore. The dis- trict serves Hood River, Wasco and Sherman coun- ties in Oregon and Skama- nia and Klickitat counties in Washington. Hoey has led the district 11 years. It has a staff of 22 people and an annual budget of $7 million to $8 million. She has an economics degree from Whitman College. She grew up on a dryland wheat farm in Wasco County, Ore. She replaces Blake Rowe, who will retire early next year. Rowe joined the orga- nization as CEO in 2010. “I’m really looking for- ward to what we’ll be able to do together for Oregon Wheat,” Hoey said during a Dec. 12 conference call. The commission and league are well-positioned to support the wheat industry long-term, Hoey said. “She has extensive experience in leading what really is a Amanda very diverse Hoey organization, lots of stake- holders,” Rowe said during the conference call. “She comes highly regarded with managing staff and setting and managing budgets. ... She comes with high marks from everyone.” Hoey’s family has also been involved in the league, said Walter Powell, chair- man of the Oregon Wheat Commission. Powell said he wel- comes Hoey’s experience as Northwest wheat grow- ers work to protect dams on the Snake River. Environ- mentalists have called for the removal of four dams on the lower Snake, while agri- culture advocates say their arguments are simplistic and don’t factor in the economic impacts on growers who rely on the river for irrigation, transportation of crops and rural communities. “We are bringing in a CEO with some experience in dealing with this issue,” Powell said during the con- ference call. In January, Hoey will split her time equally between the two wheat organizations and the economic development district, Rowe said. In Feb- ruary, she will work 75% for Oregon Wheat and 25% for the economic development district. She will join Oregon Wheat full-time in March. Hoey will participate in key events in Washington, D.C., Pendleton and The Dalles, including opportuni- ties for growers to meet her, Rowe said. Hoey’s salary is 60% paid by the commission and 40% by the league, according to Oregon Wheat documents. Rowe praised everyone involved in the hiring pro- cess, including Hoey, staff members and members of the screening, nomination and selection committees. “I just commend you — I think you picked a great per- son, but I can tell you that, in my experience, you also ran an excellent process,” Rowe said. “I can’t think of anything I would say that you really could have done better.” 503-623-2365 www.rickfarm.com 130 Main St. Rickreall, OR 97371 S160021-1
