California Expecting Some Drought Relief, Columbia Basin Project Moves Forward

California producers can expect precipitation levels to improve this winter but not enough to reverse the ongoing historic drought conditions.
One report says during this winter’s wet season for California, not enough improvement will be seen to pull the state out of drought. 60 percent of the state is categorized as in “exceptional drought,” the worst designation by the government.
Mike Halpert, acting director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, stated “while we’re predicting at least a 2-in-3 chance that winter precipitation will be near or above normal throughout the state, with such widespread, extreme deficits, recovery will be slow.”
After a nearly 10 year effort, the Board of Directors of East Columbia Basin Irrigation District adopted a resolution to allocate the first 17,639 acres of new Columbia Basin Project water to replace ground water permits in the declining Odessa Subarea aquifer.
The Board’s resolution designated water for an initial pump station and pipeline system which would serve about 10,000 acres of eligible deep well irrigated lands south of Interstate 90 in Washington State.

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