Water alternative option possible

On September 29, 2011, the Columbia River Policy Advisory Group (CRPAG) met in Ellensburg to discuss several major water supply issues relating to the Columbia River.A key issue discussed was the Odessa Aquifer Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which will start the process of getting surface water delivered to irrigators in the Odessa Subarea to replace their use of groundwater from the rapidly declining aquifer.

In particular, Bill Gray of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and Derek Sandison of the Washington State Department of Ecology reported on an emerging new preferred, more real...