Lake Roosevelt Continues to Support Odessa Water Needs

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Published: Monday, 11 January 2021 20:05

Migrating needed water to Odessa farms from deep wells to surface water irrigation continues to progress. Construction of the East Low Canal expansion is complete with only some related road construction remaining. One of the eight or more distribution systems needed to connect the canal water to farmland is also complete and design work is in process for three more.

This is all part of the multi-year Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program. State and federal efforts have secured enough water to move up to 90,000 acres of farmland from the severely declining Odessa aquifer to surface water. For a decade, infrastructure projects like this are steadily making this transition happen through partnerships and funding from the Washington Department of Ecology, the Bureau of Reclamation, irrigation districts, and landowner participation enabled through bonds issued by the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District. Millions of dollars have been invested with millions more being sought to fully build out the potential of this effort.

30,000 acre feet of this water—enough to support 10,000 acres of irrigation—comes from the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Storage Release Program. This results in the lake being drawn down 12 to 18 inches each August for a very brief time. Another 30,000-acre feet of water is being secured through coordinated conservation programs with Columbia River Basin irrigation districts.