Outlook good for aquifer supporters

Next meeting may take place Jan. 12

COLUMBIA BASIN — Two groups with the same ultimate goal are closer to working in synch with one another.

The state allowed farmers to begin drawing water from the Odessa Sub-Area Aquifer in the 1970s, believing they would ultimately get water from the planned expansion of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Columbia Basin Project. Concerns about cost and restoring declining salmon runs helped to derail expansion plans, leaving only the aquifer to supply the farms.

Declining levels in the aquifer have led to worries for farmers who draw their water from the aquifer for their operations, and the Columbia Basin Development League and Odessa Aquifer Replenishment Coalition are both working to see the second half of the project completed. The coalition formed in 2005 to work on short-term relief efforts for farmers in impacted areas in the project, while the league has been working toward completion of the project on and off through the decades.

The two groups met the week before Christmas to coordinate their efforts, and are trying to schedule a second meeting, estimated to take place Jan. 12.

Coalition principal consultant Pat Boss called the December meeting, which was not open to the public, "very productive" and reported it lasted four hours.

"We had a nice meeting, very cordial, very constructive," he said, adding he would like to see agreement between the groups outlining each of their responsibilities and roles relative to the aquifer. Boss said the groups agreed on a number of issues, but had to take back several topics to their respective groups for discussion before meeting again.

"I'm optimistic because both groups have the same ultimate goal, and I think that we just need to continue to communicate, continue to have that dialogue," league executive secretary Alice Parker said, noting that the perception exists amongst some entities that the two groups are not united. "It's just that we've got to be singing from the same page."

Through the Northwest Food Processors Association, Dennis Conley is volunteering his time as a facilitator of the meetings. Conley said he thinks the two groups simply needed to tell each other what they were doing, and the meetings provide a vehicle for that.

"Once they did that, they found they had more things in common than not," he said. The coalition may be able to handle some things, like political fund-raisers, which the league is not set up for due to different limitations, Conley said.

The two groups will also try to present a united front and get away from the belief there may be a conflict between them, he added.

Conley explained the meetings have not been public to allow the groups to "make more traction and get more stuff done."

The exact date of the next meeting is still up in the air, Conley said, because there have been scheduling difficulties during the holidays.