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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016 Homegrown :DWHUULJKWWDNHV¿UVWVWHSWRZDUGFHUWL¿FDWLRQ Project could benefi t local agriculture By GEORGE PLAVEN Staff writer The Port of Umatilla and city of Hermiston are making progress on certifying a key water right to deliver more irrigation water from the Co- lumbia River. It’s another step forward in a long and complicated process that, if suc- cessful, could mean big-time growth for the region’s agricultural econo- my. Last year, the port agreed to lease an unused portion of its Columbia River water right — 100 cubic feet per second — to the Northeast Or- egon Water Association, an organi- zation working to expand farming in Umatilla and Morrow counties. NOWA is currently working with policymakers and environmental groups to apply for new irrigation water from the Columbia as part of an ambitious, multi-phase project to grow more acres of high-value crops like onions and potatoes. As part of the deal, NOWA in- tends to leave the port’s water in stream as mitigation for native ¿ sh including salmon and steelhead. But before that can happen, the port’s water right must be of¿ cially certi- ¿ ed by the Oregon Water Resources Department. That’s where Hermiston recently came into play. The Port of Umatil- la has a full municipal and industrial water right of 155 cubic feet per sec- ond from the Columbia. One-third of that was already allocated to Herm- iston for operating a regional water system intended to lure in new devel- opment. Water for the regional system is pumped nine miles from the riv- er at McNary Industrial Park to a treatment plant at Highway 207 and Feedville Road, where it gets distributed to the city, Hermiston Generating Station, Simplot, Shear- er’s Foods and Calpine Corp. The remaining 100 cfs of water has not been developed. That’s what the port agreed to lease to NOWA, following nearly three years of negotiations. Before that lease can move for- ward, the full water right needs to be certi¿ ed. To do that, Hermiston needed to prove it was capable of pumping all that water, thereby prov- ing its ³bene¿ cial use.´ The regional water system cer- tainly isn’t built to handle all 155 cfs at once — that’s nearly 70,000 gal- lons per minute. Instead, the Water Resources Department allows mu- nicipal water rights to be certi¿ ed in quarters. To pump even a quarter of the full right, the city and port still had to install a new pump along the river. Hermiston City Council approved making improvements to the system last December, which cost $650,000 and was paid for by a state Regional Solutions grant. Last week, the city ¿ nally pumped just a little more than 39 cfs through its system for four hours, satisfying the minimum re- quirement for the ¿ rst 25 percent of the water right. City Manager Byron Smith said they were excited to clear that ¿ rst hurdle. “We’ve been pumping water for many years, but to get the certi¿ cate and really solidify the water right, we had to do this process,´ Smith said. “Now, we’re just checking the boxes and jumping through the hoops.´ Smith ¿ gures it will take roughly 18 months to repeat the process three more times for the remaining 75 per- cent of the right. In the meantime, the port can submit what’s known as a “claim of bene¿ cial use´ to get the ¿ rst chunk of water certi¿ ed, which allows NOWA to follow up on its own application. “Those applications are ready to submit once the water right is through the process,´ Smith said. With water rights in place, NOWA plans to use money allocated by the Legislature in 2015 to start building pipelines and infrastructure spanning three distinct areas from Boardman to east of Hermiston. Smith anticipates Hermiston would bene¿ t from much of that growth. “We hope that we can assist in getting some more job creation out of this, and boost the economy for our area,´ he said. EO FILE PHOTO The Northeast Oregon Water Association has begun testing pumps on the Columbia River, like the ones seen here, to certify beneÀ cial use of neZly acTuireG Zater rights SMALL CHANGES ADD UP TO BIG SAVINGS Providing for economical impact in Morrow and Umatilla County Communities IRRIGATION SYSTEM HARDWARE UPGRADES 75906 Threemile Rd, Boardman OR 97818 www.threemilecanyonfarms.com Castle Rock Farming Columbia River Dairy Cold Springs Dairy Six Mile Land & Cattle Nozzles, sprinklers and gaskets are just a few of the many small changes that add up to BIG savings on water and energy costs. The Irrigation Hardware Upgrade Program is designed to provide cash incentives to help you save on your power bill. Contact Umatilla Electric Cooperative to check on the eligibility of your new hardware purchases. For more information contact Umatilla Electric at 541-564-4357. IRRIGATION HARDWARE UPGRADE EXAMPLES 1R]]OHV 6SULQNOHUV *DVNHWV 5HJXODWRUV 'URSWXEHV When every dollar counts these days, stop by Elmer’s. We have local familiar faces ready to help you with your irrigation projects. Proudly serving Eastern Oregon & Southeast Washington since 1978 FEATURING: Pipe: PVC, galvanized & black fittings; Filters: Clemons, CTC, Gheen; Pumps: Small centricial pumps , Pressure Tanks; Lawn & garden supplies: K-Rain sprinklers & valves; Hand line, Main line, wheel line: gaskets & fittings, pipe cutting & threading Pivot parts; Pivot sprinkler packages: Nelson & Senninger Motors: UMC and US; Wheel Boxes: UMC & Valley Valves: Butterfly, ball, gate, check Automatic control valves: Nelson, Netafim ELMER’S IRRIGATION, INC. "The best little irrigation company in the Northwest" Hwy 395, Hermiston • 541-567-5572 • Fax: 541-567-8721 Emergency ser vice also available
