April 23, 2014
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently approved
permits for all but the largest orchards near Wenatchee, WA to receive irrigation
water from the Columbia River, according to a Capital Press article available here.
The remaining growers hope the permit will be granted
this week, so irrigation pipes can be installed.
Bud Hover, director of the State Department of
Agriculture, was instrumental in speeding along the project according to Ryan
Walker, biologist and principal partner in Grette Associates, environmental
consultants.
The state Department of Ecology and Fish and Wildlife
approved permits for orchards to extend irrigations system intakes “to get
water from the Columbia but the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers stopped the process
at the request of Indian tribes after extension of an irrigation pipe disturbed
or came close to an archaeological site,” said Hover.
Allyson Brooks, state Historic Preservation Officer at the
Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, said the Corp “resolved the
issues by having archaeologists monitor pipe projects to make sure no
archaeological sites are disturbed. The archaeologists have the authority to halt the work.”
For more information on the Clean Water Act, please
visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
