Oregon
Water
Resources
Congress
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OWRC White Paper on 2007 FARM BILL The Oregon Water Resources Congress (OWRC) strongly endorses the following concepts in the 2007 Farm Bill: 1. Increase EQIP funding to $2 billion per year. 2. Create a Regional Watershed Enhancement Co-operative Conservation Partnership Program (RWEP) within the EQIP program. 3. Include small hydropower provisions in the energy title. The Oregon Water Resources Congress (OWRC) was established in 1912 as a statewide trade association, promoting the protection and conservation of water rights in Oregon. OWRC represents non-potable agriculture water suppliers in Oregon, primarily irrigation districts. OWRC member districts operate water management and delivery systems that include supply reservoirs, canals and pipelines to provide irrigation water to farmers. District conservation activities include piping and lining canals and working with district irrigators to promote efficient on-farm conservation and water quality improvements. CONSERVATION FOCUS OWRC strongly supports the conservation and water quality focus identified in the Regional Watershed Enhancement Program (RWEP) offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in its farm bill proposal (Title II Conservation, Environmental Quality Incentives Program [EQIP], page 2). RWEP, as an expansion of the existing EQIP program, would allow participation of local governments such as irrigation districts, soil and water conservation districts and similar entities serving agricultural needs, to focus on cooperative approaches on a basinwide scale. Even though Oregon has a reputation as a state with plentiful water, many areas of the state have experienced and continue to experience water shortages and drought conditions. This is not likely to change as the state faces loss of snow pack and glacier storage coupled with expanding population and urbanization. Example Oregon districts have been working on co-operative conservation partnerships in river basins and watersheds, but work has been limited by partnership funding. Currently in the Deschutes Basin, for example, there is a project that has been cooperatively designed by the Bureau of Reclamation (Dept. of Interior) under a “Bridging the Headgates” agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (Dept. of Agriculture). The completed pipeline project will return 6 cfs (cubic feet per second) to a stream that will support reintroduction of listed summer steelhead and Chinook salmon. The project will also deliver more water on farm as well as conserve 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity. Each farmer who receives water from this project has committed to do on-farm conservation improvements through the EQUP program. This project is an example of what a co-operative conservation project could look like in partnership between an irrigation district and its farmer members with the funding support the RWEP program could provide. Other projects in the Deschutes Basin have the potential to firm up water supply while providing an additional 70 cfs instream for water quality and fishery benefit, if funding becomes available. Similar examples exist in the 20 water basins statewide. ISSUE The impacts on irrigation delivery systems here in Oregon as the result of the listing of endangered species have sometimes resulted in third-party lawsuits that require resource expenditures in the courtroom instead of on the ground to resolve water shortages and water quality issues. Water supply issues could be resolved locally in cooperative partnership efforts that promote conservation with a more aggressive federal funding partnership as defined in the RWEP. Oregon has had extensive experience with regard to previous project development under Reclamation’s Water 2025 Program. We are supportive of the continuation of that program as a tool in the larger tool box that we need to combine federal resources with state, regional and local resources to bring about greater coordination. FEDERAL AGENCY COORDINATION Coordination among federal agencies (BOR, NRCS, BLM, EPA, NOAA Fisheries, US F&W, Army Corp of Engineers) is a significant issue. The RWEP program should emphasize technical support from the federal agencies in a comprehensive manner. An existing “Bridging the Headgates” agreement between NRCS and the Bureau of Reclamation is an existing building block that shows the value of achieving broader coordination among agencies within federal programs. COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE OWRC also supports the legislative concept for the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative, from H.R. 6064, Section 107, Chapter 6, introduced in the last session. The competitive process program allocation, evaluation criteria, program goals and funding levels are well thought out. The RWEP program could be nested within this concept, which supports funding on the basis of $15 million per state. Both the RWEP and the CCPI provide partnership opportunities for water conservation and water quality benefits both in the supply system of the district and additional on-farm water efficiency. HYDROPOWER AS RENEWABLE ENERGY The Administration’s Farm Bill proposes over $1.6 billion in new renewable energy funding for projects. Small-scale hydropower is not included in the legislation, but farmers, as well as irrigation districts, have the potential to build such projects as part of piping systems at existing diversions. Projects at existing diversions can provide renewable energy at a low cost in addition to being more environmentally friendly as the existing diversions are screened for fishery protection. It is also important that small hydropower projects be included as part of any “ecosystem” credit or carbon trading plan. Adding fish-friendly hydropower at existing diversions should be a strong part of the renewable energy program anticipated in Farm Bill proposals. BENEFITS TO OUR MEMBERSHIP RWEP is significant to our districts and its grower members because of the program’s ability to Ø focus on cooperative approaches Ø reduce water quantity diverted Ø reduce energy needs by providing pressurized delivery of water Ø encourage conservation partnerships Ø promote water management through reuse and recirculation Ø encourage projects with systemwide benefits Ø promote regional approaches through consensus (watershed or basin) Ø effectively leverage federal dollars Ø targets dollars to key environmental priorities Ø provide complimentary benefits to other EQIP programs The RWEP program would enable Oregon irrigation districts to replace open canals with pipelines, as well as developing other conservation projects, that will secure Ø water conservation Ø water quality benefits Ø public safety For example: 7
Irrigation Districts in the Deschutes Basin (near Bend, Oregon) 3 Irrigation Districts in the
Rogue Basin (near Medford, Oregon) are working on 1 district in the Umatilla
Basin (near Pendleton, Oregon) has a water OTHER FARM BILL PROGRAMS OWRC members, farmers and ranchers have participated in almost all of the following programs from the 2002 Farm Bill: (EQIP) Environmental Quality Incentives
Program Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on this issue. Our districts and the irrigators they serve would be well served by the RWEP program or by similar provisions in the CCPI proposal. Achieving water and energy conservation, in addition to providing water quality benefits, is one more tool to combat our long-term problem of climate change resulting from global warming impacts. Contact for further information: Anita Winkler, Executive Director, 503-363-0121 To Federal Legislation
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