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Columbia Basin Development League Gets a New Leader by Matthew Weaver Capital Press, June 17, 2022

The new executive director of the Columbia Basin Development League says funding is the biggest priority.

The money is needed "for the myriad, significant infrastructure projects necessary to maintain the existing Columbia Basin Project, fully develop it and address the economic and environmental crisis of the depleting Odessa aquifer," Sara Higgins told the Capital Press.

Higgins was recently promoted from assistant director to executive director of the Columbia Basin Development League. She has been assistant director since 2011.

Higgins replaces Vicky Scharlau, who will remain in an advisory capacity.

"Momentum associated with this endeavor is starting to pick up thanks to grant funding previously unavailable to the league," Higgins said.

The recent USDA NRCS PL-566 grant award for the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Project (OGWRP) watershed planning project represents a new source of funding for the aquifer rescue mission, Higgins said.

NRCS approved $775,000 for the project.

"I'd say the outlook for that is promising, but we remain years out and hundreds of millions of dollars away from completing OGWRP," Higgins said.

Completion of the overall federal Columbia Basin Project remains "foundational" for the league.

"Capacity, consensus and resources is what it will take to keep advancing development," Higgins said.

Higgins also hopes to increase engagement with stakeholders. In 2019 the league conducted a survey of stakeholders and found a "huge need" to ramp up outreach.

The messages of the Odessa project and the overall Columbia Basin Project need to go beyond farmers to "everyone else," Higgins said.

"U.S. food security and sustainability are an increasing concern as we witness paradigm-shifting drought in the West and supply chain instability brought on by COVID and drawn out, now, by war in Ukraine," she said.

When consumers go to the grocery store or a restaurant today and something isn't available, it's considered an inconvenience, she said. But it could become a new reality if stakeholders don't influence change.

"It needs to be understood that our ability to make a food purchase starts in the fields and orchards," she said. "Funding the infrastructure necessary for those fields and orchards to produce and deliver is critical."

The Columbia Basin Project is well-positioned to be part of the longer-term solution to food insecurity and instability, she said. It's less impacted by drought than other areas, with a sustainable, renewable, congressionally authorized water source.

"The Columbia Basin Project can not only produce for today, but there are another 300,000 acres to develop to meet the increased demand that will be our future," she said. "The solution is here, if we fund it."

"As we look to meet the future needs of the Columbia Basin Project in a difficult political environment, Sara is the right person for the job," said Matt Harris, league board chair, in a press release. "Sara has been a steadfast leader of the League’s team. She is focused on breaking down complex issues and has expertly utilized limited resources to continually advance our work with federal, state, and local policymakers and stakeholders."

"I look forward to joining forces who can help elevate these important issues," Higgins said. "The effort in front of us is a significant lift. We need to work together to influence the change we need."