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Friday, February 19, 2021 CapitalPress.com 7 NE Oregon farmers complete second large water pipeline East Project ready for 2021 irrigation season By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press HERMISTON, Ore. — Two down, one to go. Farmers in northeast Oregon have completed the second of three new water pipelines tapping into the Columbia River, part of an ambi- tious plan to boost the region’s agri- cultural economy while simultane- ously relieving pressure on badly stressed groundwater aquifers. On Jan. 28, the Oregon Water Resources Department signed off on the $47 million East Project, the largest and most expensive of the pipeline package. With the West Project, which was finished last year, the pipeline will be operational for the full 2021 irrigation season. Jake Madison, president of Mad- ison Ranches in Echo, Ore., and chairman of the Northeast Oregon Water Association, said the projects are the result of local, state and fed- eral collaboration, and have led to “a true Mid-Columbia renaissance for future water sustainability.” “We have lived and breathed these projects for the past eight years of our lives,” Madison said in a statement. “While we are not there yet, we have two of three key cornerstone projects in place that give us the chance to succeed and implement our vision.” Water woes in the basin date back to at least 1958, when Oregon water regulators first began observ- ing groundwater declines. Between 1976 and 1991, OWRD designated four critical groundwater areas straddling Umatilla and Morrow counties. Wells were either restricted or cut off entirely, leaving thousands of acres of potentially high-value farmland dry. In 2012, then-Gov. John Kitzhaber convened the Colum- Northeast Oregon Water Association J.R. Cook, director of NOWA, with a section of 68-inch East Project mainline pipe. Northeast Oregon Water Association Touring the East Project pump station Jan. 12 were, from left, Carl St. Hilaire; Oregon Rep. Brad Witt, D-Dist. 31; Fred Ziari, Sen. Bill Hansell R-Dist. 29; Commissioner John Shafer; Gibb Evans; Aoibhe- ann Cline, western states coordinator for the Congressional Sports- man Foundation; and Patrick Collins, Rep. Greg Smith’s chief of staff. bia River-Umatilla Solutions Task Force, which initially proposed using Columbia River water to irri- gate farms and allow groundwater aquifers the chance to recharge. However, the Columbia River is subject to strict environmental protections in Oregon. In order to take water from the river, it has to be replaced from other sources to avoid harming endangered fish — a standard known as “bucket-for- bucket” mitigation. The Northeast Oregon Water Association, or NOWA, was estab- lished in 2013 to come up with a plan. Its members conceived three large pipelines to deliver Colum- bia River water, which would be temporarily offset by transferring existing municipal water rights in-stream for up to 30 years. Phase I of the project calls for 180 cubic feet per second of water from the river. One cubic foot of water is a little less than 7.5 gallons. J.R. Cook, founder and director of NOWA, said the goal is to even- tually transition basin farms off groundwater entirely, instead using the aquifers as a “savings account” for drought. “Now we have the infrastructure in the ground to be able to prove that we can do what we said we can do for the last 15 years,” Cook said. The West Project was the first to cross the finish line in 2020. It begins at a pump station on the Columbia River next to the Port of Morrow near Boardman. Water then flows through 8 miles of 72-inch fiberglass pipe into an open irrigation canal owned by the Columbia Improvement District. The East Project was an even bigger challenge, Cook said. To meet state grant requirements, the project must be owned by a pub- lic entity. Farmers formed the East Improvement District, starting from scratch. Meanwhile, the pipeline itself posed a multitude of logistical and regulatory hurdles. The pump sta- tion was previously owned by JSH Farms, which donated its federal Columbia River easement allow- ing crews to upgrade the system. The station, about 12 miles northeast of Hermiston, was retro- fitted with nine, 2,000-horsepower pumps capable of drawing 90,000 gallons of water per minute. From there, the pipeline crosses underneath a state highway, a Union Pacific rail line and up a sheer basalt cliff to reach farmland stretching roughly 9 miles to the south. Carl St. Hilaire, chairman of the East Improvement District and president of JSH Farms, said it was “truly a monumental effort in terms of engineering, funding, state and federal coordination and local administration.” “To see so many private land- owners work together to ensure that this project did not fail when it could have so many times is truly a testament to the commitment of this basin to help each other and help prepare our future generations for success,” St. Hilaire said. With the East Project finished, just one pipeline remains to be built. The Ordnance Project, for- merly named the Central Project, was recently purchased by Uma- tilla County, which plans to supply water to farms and potential indus- trial developments at the former Umatilla Chemical Depot. Cook said total investment in the projects over the last six years has exceeded $116 million, includ- ing $11 million in state funding and $105 million from local land- owners and food processors that will benefit from increased agri- cultural production. “The region has put signifi- cant skin in the game to fix the state of Oregon’s over-appropria- tion issues and build a pathway to long-term environmental improve- ment and economic sustainability,” Cook said. Cook said support from law- makers, including U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and state Sen. Betsy John- son, was critical to the projects’ success. In a statement, Johnson, D-Scappoose, said basin farmers have done their part. Now it is time for Oregon to step up and get them long-term Columbia River mitiga- tion water, she said. “This project is a remarkable first step,” Johnson said. “Let’s finish what we’ve started and be the reliable partner NOWA and these Eastern Oregon communities deserve.” Pandemic flattens beer demand; ‘can-do’ industry repackages brew Researchers: State funds for soil health initiative could be in question By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press The beer industry had a flat year during the COVID-19 pandemic, an industry economist says. “The interesting thing is, on the surface, 2020 looks a lot like 2019,” said Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesal- ers Association. The total beer supply estimate for 2020 was 203.5 million barrels, an increase of 0.1% from 203.4 million barrels in 2019. Slightly declining per capita consumption has been “the story” for the past decade, Jones said. Consumption has dropped from 29.1 gal- lons per person in 2010 to 25.9 gallons per person in 2020, according to the association. In March and April 2020, the earliest days of the pandemic, a lot of product was spoiled and destroyed, Jones said. The association has not yet done an accounting of the volume involved, he said. “For the maltsters and the barley growers, it doesn’t really matter if it got consumed or it got thrown out, the product was purchased and used,” Jones said. In the months fol- lowing May, the market “kind of worked itself out,” Jones said. Home consumption picked up where the restaurants, bar and stadium business channels of trade left off. The market responded quickly, Jones said. Keg or draft beer sales Work will begin this spring at the first research site for Washington State University’s soil health ini- tiative, but future funding for the project remains in question, a research leader says. Organizers have been setting up a site at the uni- versity’s Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center in Mount Vernon, said Chad Kru- ger, director of Washington State University’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee. “We’re going to be ready to roll this spring, with that site actually up and run- ning, but then if we don’t have any money after June 30 we’re kind of in trou- ble,” Kruger said. Action on the request is most likely to occur in April, when the Legislature negotiates its final budget compromise, Kruger said. The initiative’s goal is to get a picture of the current health of the state’s soils and build a road map for future education. WSU, the state Depart- ment of Agriculture and the Conservation Commis- sion originally put in coor- dinated but separate budget requests for the initiative, Kruger said. If passed, the depart- ment’s responsibilities would be $200,000 and the commission’s would be $55,445 for the 2021 fis- cal year, said Christopher declined by 50%. That volume is typically about 10% of the U.S. beer market. Cans of beer, typi- cally 60% of the indus- try’s production, rose to 66-67%, Jones said. The brewing industry uses recyclable steel kegs to move large volumes of beer from brewers to dis- tributors to retailers. With kegs on the sidelines, the industry is relying on 12-, 16- or 20-ounce alumi- num cans to move more volume. “You’ve got a 15-gal- lon keg versus a 12-ounce can,” Jones said, add- ing that recovery will be slow. Jones said the beer industry managed to get the beer originally slated for kegs repackaged in aluminum cans. “We have a tight can supply ... but we’re not going to run out of beer,” he said. The public may have an impression of a can shortage, Jones said. “We’re the complete opposite of that,” he said. “We’ve actually stepped Blaine Bickelhaupt, Owner/Broker has over 25 years of proven land acquisitions. Whether you are looking to buy or sell Farm, Ranch or Recreational properties in Washington or Idaho, or if you are just wanting to know the current value of your property, give Blaine a call. Licensed in Washington and Idaho Accredited Land Consultant blaineb@bluemountainrealtors.com 509.520.5280 S226666-1 up production, we’re ful- filling the demand for beer through can pack- ages without having to rely on the draft beer market.” The industry has done a good job of making extra cans and using them efficiently, Jones said. Two out of every three beers in the marketplace right now is in a can. “That’s the opposite of a shortage,” he said. But customers might not find the specific or exact product in the exact package they want, such as a long 12-pack that fits in the refrigerator, he said. Instead, they might have to purchase a six- pack or a 24-pack. “That’s not a short- age, that’s just an incon- venience,” Jones said. “Maybe you have to drive an extra quarter of a mile to a different store.” The can supply is likely to remain tight, but it won’t run out, he said. FLAT CARS- THE BETTER BRIDGE • Lower Cost • Custom Lengths up to 90' • Certified Engineering Services Available • Steel Construction Contractor License # 71943 P.O Box 365 • 101 Industrial Way, Lebanon, OR 97355 Office: 541-451-1275 Email: info@rfc-nw.com www.rfc-nw.com S193782-1 Matthew Weaver/Capital Press Chad Kruger, director of Washington State Univer- sity’s Center for Sustain- ing Agriculture and Natu- ral Resources, is leading a consortium of researchers that plans to study the state’s soil health. Mulick, director of WSU’s State Relations Office. WSU had received a $250,000 “proviso” for the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years totaling $500,000 to start the initiative, but the department and commission requests were not funded, Kruger said. When that happened, the researchers had to shuffle plans to establish additional research sites around the state, Kruger said. Last year, the stake- holders made a full budget request, asking for the com- mission and department’s funding, and worked to get a permanent commitment for WSU’s funding. The legislation passed with “really strong ... broad ROGUE FARM CORPS PRESENTS: CHANGING HANDS AN ONLINE WORKSHOP SERIES FOR FARMERS & RANCHERS FEATURING 3 WORKSHOP TRACKS: • Farm financing & business planning FEB - MAR • Accessing & acquiring farmland • Farm & business transfers 2021 www.roguefarmcorps.org/changinghands/workshops S225400-1 Blaine Bickelhaupt Budweiser.com The sales of canned beer last year almost made up for the decrease in the sales of kegs. ... support for full funding,” Kruger said. Gov. Jay Inslee approved the commission and depart- ment budget requests, but vetoed WSU’s request as part of a large package of vetoes to try to get ahead of the COVID recession, Kru- ger said. “I think that what really happened is that there were a lot of casualties of the uncertainty of COVID at the end of the session last year when the budget bills were signed,” he added. The veto of the WSU budget zeroed out the entire initiative budget, Kruger said. The department has now requested WSU’s fund- ing be put back in. “I think the problem was everyone assumed we had the $250,000 a year ongo- ing, and that just wasn’t the case,” Kruger said. “It was a one-time, two-year commitment.” The request for full fund- ing is in Inslee’s proposed budget again this year. A lack of funding would delay initiative efforts. Work at the Mount Vernon site would have to pause, Kru- ger said. Kruger said he doesn’t know how likely funding approval is. “It’s been a roller coaster ride through the past two sessions,” he said. “You just never know until the last day. We’re moving forward under the expectation that it will be there, but also with the knowledge that it may not be there.”