04/27/07 Monitoring the Columbia

Monitoring the Columbia. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. For the Pacific Northwest fruit and vegetable growers the mighty Columbia and Snake rivers are the regions life blood. Especially on the east side of the Cascades where rain and snow pack are a precious commodities that just can't be counted on. According to Joye Redfield-Wilder, Public Information Manager for Washington's Department of Ecology says they have been given the task of monitoring that water source. REDFIELD-WILDER: The Legislature passed a pretty extensive bill to help us better understand how water is managed on the Columbia River and to develop new water sources on the Columbia River. That is to study everything from new storage to also promoting conservation and also gain an understanding of how much water we are using right now so that we can better know how much waters going to be available in the near future and how much water we're going to need in the long term. Water users are being asked to consider helping with the monitoring project. REDFIELD-WILDER: This is an opportunity for people to participate in a program that provides grants  grant money to help them pay for their metering devices and through their conservation district they can get these cost share applications and learn more about the program. If interested you have until July 31 this year to participate and take advantage of $1 million dollars in grants. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.