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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016
Homegrown
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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
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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
