The east columbia basin irrigation district (ECBID) is pursuing financial assistance for the preparation of a new comprehensive water conservation plan for the conservation of water to increase the…

The East Columbia Basin Irrigation District (ECBID) was awarded a $120,600 Project Grant by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation under the Water Conservation Field Services Program (CFDA 15.530). The purpose of the grant is to support the preparation of a new comprehensive water conservation plan for the ECBID's Columbia Basin Project area, which is experiencing significant groundwater depletion and risks leaving many without a reliable water supply.

The proposed project will analyze and update the district's existing 1995 and 2007 water conservation plans, focusing on areas such as district organization, land use, water supply and rights, facilities and operations, water balance, future water use, and opportunities for improvements. The updated plan will help the ECBID conserve more water and allow additional acres to be added to the system. The outcomes of the project are expected to support moving farmers in the Odessa Subarea from unsustainable groundwater pumping to surface water from the Columbia Basin Project, which will significantly reduce pumping costs and energy use.

Activities

The proposed project will analyze and update the district S comprehensive water conservation plan, that was completed in 1995 and updated in may 2007. The comprehensive water conservation plan was defined by the task below:district organizationland base and land usewater supply, use, and rightspresent facilities and operationwater balancefuture water useopportunities for improvementsfinancialsocioeconomic impacts from plan implementationsince the last evaluation of each category took place, many changes have been completed throughout the district. By updating the plan, the district will conserve more water and allow additional acres to the system.once each category is thoroughly analyzed a plan will be presented for upgrading the districts facilities to enhance the water conservation, improve the structural stability of facilities, reduce energy usage, maintain a high level of service to farmers, and preserve the financial integrity of the district.expected deliverables or outcomes: in the odessa subarea, farmers currently use private wells to irrigate their land. They must pump water from thousands of feet below ground to run their irrigation sprinkler systems. The aquifer is declining rapidly and much of the land currently irrigated by these wells is becoming infeasible to irrigate. The loss of this farmland will be a huge economic impact to the immediate area as well as the state of washington. Moving these farmers to surface water from the columbia basin project will significantly reduce pumping costs and result in reduced electric use.

Intended beneficiaries

The district anticipates beginning the project as soon as october 2024 and completion by march 2026. The proposed project is in the odessa subarea special study area, which is a collaborative effort, primarily led by the bureau of reclamation and washington state department of ecology. In april 2005, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the district, ecology, and reclamation established goals on how to handle conserved water within the district. IT was determined that the conserved water would be available as replacement water supply for groundwater deliveries in the odessa subarea, municipal and industrial water supply, and environmental uses. Ecology funded the preparation of the plan through the columbia river water management program. Furthermore, in july 2006, the washington state legislature passed the revised code of washington (RCW), title 90, chapter 90 (90.90) which declared that a columbia river basin water supply development program was needed and directed the department of ecology to aggressively pursue the development of water supplies to benefit both instream and out-of-stream uses.subrecipient activities (if known or specified at time of award):