Center For Global Animal Health & Ensuring Future Water Supplies

Saturday was a big day for Washington State University, the new multi-million dollar “Paul G. Allen Center for Global Animal Health” was dedicated in a ceremony celebrating not only the monumental donation from Paul Allen, but from the “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation” as well. Together the two donated over $50 million. This new veterinary program facility will allow WSU to further investigate globally emerging diseases, and create research and exchange programs with institutions in Africa. WSU President, Elson Floyd, comments on the new facility and its potential.

FLOYD: There is no doubt that with this facility and with the expertise of this remarkable faculty we will be able to eradicate diseases that transfer from animals to humans.

In addition, thanks to these generous donations, WSU also hopes to add twenty new faculty members by 2020 and increase the number of graduate researchers to more than one hundred students.

September 6th the Department of Ecology signed an agreement with Dungeness irrigators that will help ensure future water supplies for the agricultural economy in the Sequim area. The agreement identifies how much of the conserved water set aside in the state’s trust water program that the Dungeness River Agricultural Water Users Association can sell or lease to the community for new uses in the Dungeness River Basin. Thanks to this agreement, the Dungeness irrigators can make some of their water rights available for purchase as mitigation credits.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.