Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is good for Washington agriculture

For the entire year, the Columbia Basin Development League has been pushing to ensure the White House infrastructure plan would include water infrastructure for agriculture. Drinking water infrastructure was a given, but funding for aging reservoirs, dams, canals, and pipes that deliver irrigation for crops was more elusive. So was funding for new infrastructure desperately needed by the Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program (OGWRP) that will replace water coming from a declining aquifer with reliable Columbia Basin Project water.

The same system that delivers irrigation water for crops also supports the surrounding natural environment: wetlands, streams and wildlife refuges. The reality of an economic, environmental, and food security triple-threat began to turn heads.

Fast forward to August, the Senate passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill that not only included $8.3 billion for western water, but specifically called out $3.2 billion for aging infrastructure and $1.15 billion for water storage, groundwater storage, and conveyance projects. Additionally, $3.265 billion was included for a bridge grant program to assist state, local, federal, and tribal entities in rehabilitating or replacing bridges. Washington State is expected to see $605 million over five years. To fully realize the benefits of the Columbia Basin Project aquifer rescue mission (known as OGWRP), 10 bridges must be replaced at about $2 million each.

Now, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act awaits its fate in the House, but members are not aligned and movement on infrastructure is politically tied to budget reconciliation.

Unfortunately, agriculture does not wait for politics, but the magnitude of need is such that only federal funding can address it. Earlier this year, over $443 million in Columbia Basin Project infrastructure projects were identified as priorities in the next five years. Properly funded, these projects would protect billions of dollars of economic value generated in Washington state, the region, and the nation.

Completion of the first of nine OGWRP pump and pipeline systems was also celebrated earlier this year, reducing aquifer depletion by up to 73 million gallons per day. If funded, the other eight systems could slow depletion to a nearly incomprehensible amount.

We can choose to ignore the critical role agriculture plays in our lives, and we can watch our food security destabilize and the economic base for dozens of rural communities and thousands of residents fade away. Unable to continue waiting, some farmers are selling their land. Food processors are planning the future of their companies, now. Washington stands to lose much if water infrastructure needs are not supported. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is good for Washington agriculture.

The Columbia Basin Development League is a 501 (c) 6 nonprofit organization. Since 1964, the League has supported the Columbia Basin Project and its continued development.