Improvements to allow more water delivery to farmers south of Interstate 90 are progressing at the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project’s Weber Siphon Complex.

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MOSES LAKE — Improvements to allow more water delivery to farmers south of Interstate 90 are progressing at the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project’s Weber Siphon Complex.

The project stopped in November because bidder BOSS Construction, of Bellingham, twice protested the $20 million contract being awarded to Mowat Construction Company, of Woodinville, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The company didn’t feel the bureau evaluated their proposal in accordance with what they said they would do in the solicitation, according to a Dec. 18 Columbia Basin Herald article.

The matter was forwarded to the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C., which did not agree with BOSS Construction.

Construction started in April. A project completion date is unavailable.

When the project is done, irrigation water is brought to 10,000 acres now receiving water from deep wells. Ground water pumpers will also received some water.

The bureau attributed groundwater declines to the deep well use in the Odessa subarea.

“Construction of the Weber Branch and Weber Coulee Siphons will get some much-needed water to farmers in the Odessa subarea and will contribute to the greater success of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project,” stated Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

The project is being funded by stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Department of the Interior received $3 billion in ARRA funds in 2009.

For more information or to track project progress, visit www.recovery.gov or www.interior.gov/recovery.