Applications open for some additional surface water in OGWRP area
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 weeks, 1 day AGO
Applications are open for landowners in the OGWRP area to switch a limited amount of farmland to surface irrigation
COURTESY PHOTO/EAST COLUMBIA BASIN IRRIGATION DISTRICT
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | June 3, 2026 3:00 AM
OTHELLO — Landowners with farmland within the area covered by the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Project are eligible to apply for surface irrigation water to replace groundwater. Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m. June 22.
Jon Erickson, development coordinator for the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District, said most of the acreage in the project boundary is allocated. Erickson said an undetermined amount is left, possibly up to 13,000 acres.
“We’re coming to the end of our project,” he said. “We’re running out of acres to contract.”
The long-running project is designed to convert eligible farmland in the project to irrigation by surface water supplied by canal. Some of the canals are completed and in operation while others are under construction. Seven distribution systems are in the design phase, Erickson said, and those will be the last to be built when they’re completed.
Landowners can apply online – and only online, according to an ECBID press release. The link is available at the district’s website, www.ecbid.org.
The land must be located within the OGWRP boundaries, and property owners must have valid water rights. The legal landowner, and a representative if there is one, must sign the application.
Irrigation district systems are limited in length, which may mean some properties are ineligible.
There’s an application fee of $2 per acre; requests will not be processed until the fee is paid, the release said.
“Lands to be included will need to contribute $100 per acre to begin the design process,” the release said. “Additional design fees may be needed and are expected.”
The money contributed by landowners goes to help pay some costs of designing and building the canals, the OGWRP release said.
“Landowners must be willing to execute a water delivery contract with ECBID to receive (Columbia Basin Project) water,” it said.
Total fees – the water contract and paying for the design and construction of the canals – are about $115 per acre per year for 2026, the release said. The maximum fee is $190 per acre per year.
Contract rates, which include some other fees, are set each year by the ECBID’s board, the release said.
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