Columbia Basin Development League Marks 60 Years

The Columbia Basin Development League is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.  Sara Higgins, CBDL Executive Director said with the League being around for six decades, many people may not appreciate the impact the Columbia Basin Project has had on the region, the nation and the world.

She noted that the Columbia Basin Project has an annual economic impact of over $5 billion, and allows for many central and eastern Washington communities to survive and thrive in a desert climate.  She added while the Northwest has benefited from the Project, the ripple effects have been felt far beyond Washington.

“Food security is a is a topic that is increasingly of interest to individuals, especially as we look to our friends in the Southwest, where climate change is causing some challenge with our ability to continue to grow food there, the way we always have," Higgins said.  "Well, the Columbia Basin project can be part of the solution in terms of ensuring continued food security for, certainly for the nation, but also realistically for the world.”

Higgins added the staying power of the CBDL is thanks to hard work at the grassroots level.

“Whether that was, you know, landowners, farmers that saw the great potential in in being able to grow high value irrigated crops, whether that was policymakers that saw the economic potential in in developing the project and also the quality of life that that would produce in communities that that sort of self-sustaining opportunity.”

Higgins added thanks to the potential those individuals saw, agriculture has become a powerhouse oof the Washington economy, and that won’t be changing anytime soon.

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