Developing Water For Agriculture

Developing Water For Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report.

State Ag Director, Derek Sandison, addressed a packed room of tree fruit growers at the recent Washington State Tree Fruit Association's annual meeting and water was a big topic. Sandison took the opportunity to give a little background on water development in the state and looked at the future.

SANDISON: Since 2006 we've developed about 390-thousand acre feet of additional supply, 290-thousand of which is for out of stream use, primarily irrigated agriculture. The place we're making the most progress is probably the Columbia Basin in terms of actually having water available for new uses. It's primarily for replacement of ground water that's declining rapidly in the central part of the state and it's important to have backup supplies and replacement supply available to maintain the vigorous economy of the Columbia Basin Project and the surrounding area.

Sandison says that Yakima is another success area in terms of water.

SANDISON: Where we started was basically nowhere. There hadn't been any major water projects put on the ground for decades and also in terms of making progress at both the state legislature front and the federal front, back in 2013 the state passed authorizing legislation for the Yakima Integrated Plan.

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.