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Irrigators Vow to Resist Plans to Curb Usage by Mike Lee, Herald staff writer Tri-City Herald, March 13, 2001

Columbia River irrigators have vowed not to turn off their pumps this summer even if the state orders them to shut down.

"If it comes down to civil disobedience, so be it -- but the pumps are going to stay on," said Darryll Olsen, consultant for the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association. "People just can't walk away from the financial investment they have in these systems."

Irrigators hope the situation doesn't get that dire. Along with a handful of state senators, they are pressuring Gov. Gary Locke and the Ecology Department to call off a plan that would cut water to about 200 water users and could bankrupt some of them.

"This is not the time to create another dust bowl in our state," said eight Republican senators in a Saturday letter to Locke, who is expected to make an official drought declaration Wednesday.

"We owe it to the people of this state to keep our growers producing the products that feed the world," they said. "Interruption of water could be the final nail in their coffin."

The most recent analysis shows the Columbia River will fall below minimum flows in July, August and September, which means the state might curtail water use at summer's peak.

Olsen said almost all of the association's 80 members have at least some water that the state aims to block for a week at a time. He estimated about 20,000 acres would be affected -- land worth about $80 million.

Last week, the Ecology Department said that because the Columbia River was so low, it was preparing to interrupt water deliveries in Eastern Washington, including about 80 water rights in Benton and Franklin counties.

Water rights on the Columbia issued between 1980 and 1992 are subject to the condition that flows must meet certain month-by-month targets.

If they do not, the state can suspend irrigation water deliveries, a decision that would be made weekly through the summer -- something that has not been done on the Columbia River even though several rivers in Washington regularly are protected under similar provisions.

"That's the law," said Joye Redfield-Wilder, Ecology Department spokeswoman in Yakima. She said the agency has not changed directions since Wednesday's announcement and to expect an order curtailing water use within a few weeks. "There is no change there."

The rule is an attempt to boost Columbia River flows, which are expected to be about half of normal and some of the lowest on record.

Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, said with the region dumping most salmon-friendly river operations in favor of power production, the state appears on the brink of shutting down farms to power air conditioners.

"Agriculture is being held out to pay the bill for the urban areas in California to have their electricity," he said.

But state officials can work around the flow targets "when it is clear that overriding considerations of the public interest will be served." For instance, Ecology Department Director Tom Fitzsimmons can reduce the targets by 25 percent. With current projections, that would allow the state to meet revised flow targets without cutting water in August and September.

But it will take something more to keep farmers watering in July, when flows are expected to be more than 25 percent below targets.

The Republican caucus is pushing the state to reduce minimum flow demands, which could be done through emergency rule making, Olsen said.

"Stream flows were arbitrarily set by the (Ecology Department) in 1980," said the senators' letter. "Based on historical records, we now recognize that those levels are unreasonably high."

They asked for an immediate meeting with Locke and his water adviser, Jim Waldo. A spokesman for the governor said Monday that he was still reviewing the issue and wasn't ready to discuss the letter.

The irrigators association is pursuing other options. For instance, there may be enough water in upstream reservoirs to increase the river during August to satisfy the state at the same time the Bonneville Power Administration plans to use that water for power production.

If all else fails, the association has retained lawyers to draft temporary restraining orders against the Ecology Department should the agency attempt to interrupt water supply.