Ground Broken On Another Central WA Irrigation Delivery System

On Wednesday, state leaders, state lawmakers and farmers gathered east of Othello, WA for the groundbreaking of the EL 80.6 delivery system.

“This is a pumping plant that'll have a pipeline that'll take water out into areas that are currently served by wells and we can take those wells offline and rely on this water to water our crops and to make sure this area stays productive," said Washington State Department of Agriculture Director Derek Sandison. "It's a very important part of our potato industry to have these lands specifically in operations.”

The EL 80.6 is the 4th Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program system to begin construction. The EL 47.5 system was completed in 2021, the EL 86.4 was completed last year, and the EL 84.7 system is currently under construction.

When on-line, the EL 80.6 system will convert 5,862 acres from deep well irrigation to Columbia River surface water.

And while Wednesday’s groundbreaking signified the start of a new construction project, Sandison said in no way does is signify that this important work is done.

“I mean we're not even really at the halfway point in terms of acreage that we're replacing," Sandison noted. "So, the whole idea is to replace groundwater with surface water and we're not even halfway through yet. The key fact is we are in fact moving forward quickly at this point because we are sufficiently supported by the federal government as well as the state legislature and so we're wanting to make progress and get those wells replaced as quickly as we can.”