Oroville-Tonasket’s Drought Year Water Bank
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Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Jay O’Brien: I have been working for OTID since 1983. I
8 | IRRIGATION LEADER
started out in the maintenance department and worked my way up. In 2013, I accepted the secretary-manager position. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the district’s history and current services. Jay O’Brien: OTID was born in 1916. In the mid-1980s, the Bureau of Reclamation updated the system, and we now have eight pumping stations located up and down the Okanagan Valley, from the Canadian border to a point 10 miles south of Tonasket, Washington. We irrigate about 10,000 acres and have about 1,500 customers. We have a totally pressurized system with no open canals, flumes, or ditches. The primary crops in our area are apples, cherries, pears, and alfalfa hay. In addition, a small portion of our service area is residential. Irrigation Leader: What are the district’s current top issues? Jay O’Brien: Maintenance and upgrades to our facilities. Our facilities are more than 30 years old now, and we are finding that pipelines need to be replaced and the pumping stations need a significant amount of work. We are finding it difficult to integrate 1980s technology with present-day technology. Irrigation Leader: What are the district’s challenges when it comes to water supply?
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVY LANDMAN.
roville-Tonasket Irrigation District (OTID), located in north-central Washington State, enjoys senior water supplies from its sources in Lake Osoyoos and the Okanagan River. However, the region has undergone droughts in recent years, resulting in curtailment for junior water right holders. In order to make use of the water available to it and to help those without a reliable water supply, OTID has set up a water bank under which it can first protect, then lease a portion of its unused water to interested customers in the Okanogan River basin and downstream along the mainstem Columbia River. In the short term, the water will be leased to help offset the district’s ever-increasing costs, including those of future power obligations and deferred maintenance, resulting in lower property assessments and thus helping growers remain competitive in today’s agricultural market. In the long term, the water will be protected from relinquishment and kept available to support future farm expansion, consistent with the strong agricultural values of the local community. In this interview, OTID Secretary-Manager Jay O’Brien speaks with Irrigation Leader about the inspiration for the district’s water banking system, how it works, and how the same concept can benefit other irrigation districts across the region.
