(Washington D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty
Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee,
announced that she included $1.25 million to complete the Odessa Subarea
Special Study in the Fiscal Year 2011 Energy and Water Development
Appropriations Bill.
Senator
Murray has been an outspoken advocate for federal investment to sustain the
Odessa aquifer, which supplies drinking water for local residents and
irrigation for millions of dollars worth of crops, and this year she
successfully secured $1.25 million in funding after the project was eliminated
from the President’s budget.
“In the Columbia Basin, nothing could be
more important than water access,” said
Senator Murray. “The completion of
this study will ensure that the Odessa Subarea Aquifer continues to provide
water resources to the farmers and residents of the Columbia Basin.”
This funding completes the
feasibility study, which seeks to identify the best way to use Columbia Basin
Project surface irrigation water to replace ground water in the Odessa Subarea
aquifer. The ground water is currently being used for irrigation, and is
depleting the aquifer. Once completed, this exchange of water sources will
allow the ground water resource to be saved for future domestic use in the
region and continue the existing irrigated agriculture production base, which
is an integral part of the regional economy.
Having
passed the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee today, the bill will
now go to the full Appropriations Subcommittee before going to the full Senate
for consideration.
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