Funding for OGWRP Being Considered in Olympia
On March 20, the State Senate released a funding package that included $32.8M in appropriations to assist in the planning, designing, engineering, development coordination, and construction of the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Project (OGWRP). If received, SB1147 would be sufficient to irrigate the acreage located within the Odessa Subarea Special Study. Additionally, the proposed appropriation includes $500,000 for the Columbia Basin Conservation District to continue work to secure federal funding from the US Department of Agriculture for the OGWRP, and $850,000 for the US Bureau of Reclamation for administration and necessary design review.
The proviso language was developed in collaboration with Central Washington elected officials, specifically Washington State Representatives Tom Dent, Mary Dye, Alex Ybarra, and Joe Schmick, and Washington State Senators Judy Warnick, and Mark Schoesler.
On March 27, the bill was sent to the State House of Representatives for review and reduced from $32.8M to $20M. Earlier this week, a public hearing was held before advancing to executive session.
“This continues unwavering support for the OGWRP, which has been decades in the making, and is the result of strong collaboration and support from a number of partners and elected officials such as Representatives Dent, Dye, Ybarra and Schmick, and Senators Warnick and Schoesler,” explained ECBID Secretary-Manager Craig Simpson.
If successful, the appropriation will be used to advance design and construction of three systems in the southern region of the ECBID service district, the 80.6, the 84.7, and the 86.4 and has the potential to reduce the current normalized cost by up to 33%.
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