- Western Growers
Sidestep Water Diversion Losses
- By Greg Brown
Associate Editor
- Washington’s Columbia Basin potato growers dodged plans that could have drawn down reservoir levels to protect endangered fish.
The theoretical plan was similar to the one that derailed farmer’s efforts in the Klamath Basin two years ago, according to grower groups.
The Washington State Potato Commission (WSPC) and growers took out full-page ads in several newspapers around the state, alerting state residents to the possible impacts of the theoretical drawdowns. The ads on behalf of potato growers in the Columbia Basin warned that annual late-summer drawdowns at Banks Lake reservoir could injure their crop.
Pat Boss, WSPC executive director, said that the ads provided the impetus needed for the agency to back off of the proposed drawdowns. But the victory won’t be long-lived.
“They say they are going to back off until next year,” said Boss. “We are seeing this happen more and more in the Northwest. It has also occurred in Colorado - it doesn’t matter that many of these reservoirs were built for irrigation and recreation.”
Banks Lake is a manmade reservoir in Grant County that draws water from the Columbia River. Water from the reservoir is used to irrigate about 500,000 acres of crops. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposed pumping less water into Banks Lake in August, lowering the reservoir by about five feet. The drawdown of water was designed to leave more water in the Columbia River for salmon. The federal agencies say the reservoir would be refilled in September, but farmers worry that it would not be fully refilled in drought years, causing shortages for irrigators.
Banks Lake takes about 3% of the Columbia River’s water to irrigate 500,000 acres of Columbia Basin crops. Since its creation, it has become a destination for recreation, as well.
The potato commission and irrigation districts contended that there was little scientific evidence that the water would help fish. NOAA officials acknowledged that benefits are nearly impossible to prove.
Under orders from NOAA Fisheries and other agencies charged with salmon restoration, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation was studying the recreational and environmental effects of pumping less water into the reservoir each August. The surface of the lake could drop as much as five feet lower than normal.
Boss said the 350 potato growers were concerned that if the reservoir were drawn down during a drought year, it would not be fully refilled. Conducting a drawdown in the Columbia Basin with a “we’re just going to try approach” is a dangerous game, said Boss.
The long-term effects coupled with consecutive drought years could leave growers with water shortages, he said.
“The question has occurred in many other states,” said Boss. “The proposed use of reservoir water in Washington, Oregon and Idaho for flow in rivers is not in line with their original purpose.”
The idea of drawing down the levels make growers nervous because of the 2001 Klamath Basin water diversion. Drought conditions prompted a 2001 decision by the federal government to reduce the amount of irrigation water released to farmers in order to protect threatened salmon and suckerfish.
That decision pitted farmers against fishermen and environmental groups. Farmers protested and the government decided to give water back to farmers when it was too late.
This year, the Klamath River watershed, on the Oregon-California border, has received about half of its average winter snowfall, according to William Wise, director of the Oregon Potato Commission (OPC). The Klamath Lake is full thanks to spring rains. But the OPC has worked in conjunction with their representative to foster efforts that would prevent future water cutoffs without sound science.
In mid-April, an Oregon congressman from the Klamath Basin introduced legislation that would prevent unnecessary action against growers by incorporating a scientific peer review process into all Endangered Species Act (ESA) designations.
Congressman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) re-introduced legislation - the Sound Science for Endangered Species Act Planning Act of 2003 (HR 1662) - to incorporate a peer review process as a prerequisite for ESA decisions.
Wise said that the proposed changed would make some necessary changes and involve sound science in decisions affecting growers.
“We have been supporting Representative Walden’s efforts,” said Wise. “Why should a biological opinion with such potential impacts be issued without peer review?”
The first Klamath shutoff was not based on sound science, according to a panel of the National Academy of Sciences that examined the water shutoff decision after its implementation and found that the order had “no sound scientific basis.”
The legislation would also establish an independent scientific review requirement for all ESA listing and de-listing proposals. It would also require the Secretary of the Interior to solicit and obtain additional data from landowners and others that would assist in the development of recovery plans, including the recovery goals.
“It is important to keep in mind that any of the conclusions that come from ESA cases are going to effect the whole country,” said Hollee Stubblebine, director of industry communications for the National Potato Council. “These cases could set precedents that future case decisions would be based on.” Stubblebine said that the legislation could aid the entire industry.
In the meantime, a federal court hearing was scheduled for April 29 to decide if the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages flows in the Klamath Basin, should continue diverting water for agricultural use or release more for the threatened fish. No decision had been reached at press time.
