Friday, March 12, 2021
CapitalPress.com 7
Second half of Columbia Basin Project completion depends on ‘political will’
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Completing the second
half of the Columbia Basin
Project depends on “politi-
cal will,” said Vicky Schar-
lau, executive director of
the Columbia Basin Devel-
opment League.
And time — lots of it.
“This is a long time and
a lot of money,” Scharlau
told stakeholders during
the league’s March 4 vir-
tual conference .
The federal project
delivers water to 671,000
acres of farmland, roughly
65% of the 1.03 million
acres originally planned.
Lawmakers
recently
asked the organization
for a one-page document
that fully explains what
it would take to complete
the project. It includes the
expected length of time to
complete each step:
Step one — Authori-
zation (completed): The
project was authorized in
1945.
Step two — Key part-
ners commit to finan-
cial support: The federal
Bureau of Reclamation
must work with a non-fed-
eral cost-share partner that
agrees to match funding
for all studies. The “logi-
cal” partner is the State of
Washington, Scharlau said.
“This means a commit-
ment by both the governor
Bureau of Reclamation
The John Keys Pump Generation Plant intakes at the Grand Coulee Dam. The 12 pumps send water from the Co-
lumbia River to Banks Lake and 670,000 acres of farmland in the Columbia Basin Project in Central Washington
state. Work is underway to provide more water to farms and cities in the region.
and the state Legislature,
because they would have
to agree to a multi-year,
multi-biennium commit-
ment,” Scharlau said.
Step three — Appraisal
study: Studies for feasible
alternatives and water sup-
ply availability must take
place first in order for the
Lights out for bill to let
Washington counties nix
solar panels on farms
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — A bill to
give counties and cities rather
than an unelected state board
the power to approve or reject
solar panel arrays on farm-
land has failed.
Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Mo-
ses Lake, said Saturday she
was disappointed. She intro-
duced Senate Bill 5206 to bar
the Energy Facility Site Eval-
uation Council from overrid-
ing local opposition to solar
panels taking over farmland.
The bill stemmed from a
proposal to build a 235-acre
solar project on farmland in
Kittitas County, a sunny and
agricultural-rich region in
Central Washington.
County
commissioners
were opposed. Public meet-
ings in the county were well
attended and many residents
commented for and against
the project.
In the end, in 2018, seven
unelected state employees,
meeting in Olympia, outvoted
by 7-1 a Kittitas County com-
missioner and recommended
that Gov. Jay Inslee approve
the project. He did.
“I’d like to revise that pro-
cess and make it better for
people who want to see these
projects sited, but sited in the
right place,” Warnick said.
“There’s got to be a mid-
dle ground,” she said. “I’ll be
back. I’d like to have more
conversations about it.”
The energy site coun-
cil was formed in 1970 to
approve large energy projects,
such as oil refineries, nuclear
power plants and natural gas
pipelines. It has added to its
portfolio any wind or solar
project.
Rather than go through
local governments, renew-
able power developers seek-
ing permits have the option to
go to the state council for an
“expedited process.”
The committee’s chair-
woman, Kathleen Drew, and
a renewable energy advocate
testified against Warnick’s
bill, warning it could hinder
the state’s transformation to
carbon-free electricity.
The bill died in the Sen-
ate Environment, Energy
and Technology Committee.
Another bill that would have
added tribes to the energy
site council and expanded
the projects the council could
approve also died.
Kittitas County commis-
sioners had passed a morato-
rium on solar energy projects
on farmland.
By law, projects approved
by the energy site council
must follow local land rules.
The council concluded the
moratorium was neither a
“land-use plan” nor “zoning
ordinance.”
The council also said that
by putting the panels on “dis-
turbed farmland” the project
would avoid “environmen-
tally sensitive areas.”
A
council
member
remarked before the final vote
that the solar panels have a
projected life of 30 years so
covering the farmland wasn’t
a “permanent conversion.”
bureau to proceed, Schar-
lau said.
“There is adequate
supply of water for all
1,029,000 acres,” she said.
The state issued a stor-
age certificate for 6.4 mil-
lion acre-feet to Recla-
mation in 1938, and has a
secondary permit for 3.2
million acre-feet for land
now served. Reclamation
would need an additional
secondary permit for 2 mil-
lion acre-feet from the state
to complete the project.
Step four — Plan of
study: The plan of study
document lays the founda-
tion for a feasibility study.
The partners — Congress
and the Washington State
Legislature — would fund
the study. The plan would
take at least two years.
Step five — Feasibil-
ity study. The feasibility
study would take at least
five years and provide a
detailed evaluation of the
entire project, including
federal requirements such
as Principles, Requirements
and Guidelines for Water
Implementation
Studies,
the National Environmen-
tal Policy Act, the National
Historic Preservation Act,
the Fish & Wildlife Coor-
dination Act and the Endan-
gered Species Act.
The
planning
part-
ners would identify which
options are feasible for fed-
eral funding. The study
and recommended decision
would then be submitted to
the secretary of the Interior
and Office of Management
and Budget, which deter-
mine whether it would go to
Congress for funding.
The planning partners
must also complete a plan-
ning report on the design
work and costs and environ-
mental impact statement,
among other requirements.
The estimated costs for
steps three, four and five are
$25 million.
Step six — Construc-
tion: Construction is esti-
mated to take at least 10
years and cost $3 billion to
$5 billion.
Additional costs for
off-channel storage con-
struction may be needed
if it is found that Colum-
bia River flows are not
adequate to support diver-
sions during the irrigation
season, according to the
paper.
Biden names new agriculture adviser
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The
White House has announced Kelliann
Blazek as the new special assistant to
the president for agriculture and rural
policy.
The White House rural envoy
will work closely with the executive
branch, especially the USDA.
Blazek’s role will include advis-
ing the president on policies related
to rural investments and infrastruc-
ture, including improving roads and
expanding internet access in rural
areas.
Her appointment comes after some
farm-state lawmakers and rural advo-
cates pressed Biden to
name a White House
policy point person to
focus on challenges in
rural America.
Blazek was one of
several policy staff
Kelliann
appointed by Biden
Blazek
Friday.
“These qualified,
impressive and dedicated individu-
als reflect the diversity and strength
of America and will play critical roles
advancing the Biden-Harris admin-
istration’s commitment to tackling
the crises we face and building back
our country better,” a White House
statement said Friday about the new
appointees.
According to a White House state-
ment, Blazek most recently served
as the first director of Wiscon-
sin’s Office of Rural Prosperity, an
agency created by Gov. Tony Evers
in 2020 to support the state’s rural
communities.
Prior to holding that position, at
different times, Blazek worked as
counsel to U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree,
D-Maine, taught food and law policy
at George Mason University, worked
at the Harvard Food Law and Policy
Clinic and the National Sustainable
Agriculture Coalition.
Blazek holds a degree from the
University of Wisconsin Law School
and grew up on her family’s farm in
Wisconsin.
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