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BENTON CITY — A lot of money is riding on a Kennewick Irrigation District proposal to bring more water to Red Mountain. The dusty slopes just outside Benton City are world famous for the robust, fruit-laden and tannic wines made from grapes grown on soils laid down by the great Missoula floods. The hill’s grapes fetch higher pricesthan any other Washington appellation.

Red Mountain lies within the Kennewick Irrigation District, but was originally designated not suitable for irrigation by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Now, with high-value land and grapes, modern pipes, pumps and advanced irrigation techniques, officials think their vision to irrigate additional land on the mountain and on the west edge of West Richland is ripe.

The plan would cost an estimated $35 million and require the district to trade its 1905 Yakima River water right for Columbia River water. A total of 8,500 acres would be included in the three proposed LIDs, but about 3,125 acres would actually be watered.

But questions remain. It’s unclear if the plan would really benefit salmon, if KID ratepayers would be able to keep the amount of irrigation water they are using and who would ultimately pay for the development costs.

The Columbia, Red Mountain Plan

The plan is propelled forward by legislation Gov. Chris Gregoire signed last year that earmarked up to $200 million to develop water supplies on the Columbia River.

Irrigation district officials have proposed cutting back on the amount of water the district takes out of the Yakima at its Prosser diversion dam, leaving more to flow down the lower stretch of the Yakima River.

The river’s endangered salmon have faced low dissolved oxygen levels, high temperatures and sluggish flows for years. The plan would leave 139 cubic-feet-per-second in the lower stretch of the river that would otherwise be drawn for irrigation and to power the turbine driven pumps.

Further downstream, the district would pull out about 44 cubic-feet-per-second where the river bends near Benton City and pump it to nearby Red Mountain.

Victor Johnson, KID manager, said he expects to have a water permit from the state Department of Ecology by early July, and the system might be pumping out water as early as 2009. The plan would cost about $28 million and be paid for by the grape growers and residents on Red Mountain and in West Richland who would benefit from the irrigation. The construction would likely cost between $300 to $500 an acre for farmers and residents per year, depending upon how many farmers and residents sign up to participate.

Gaining a more senior water right on the Columbia River would mean the district wouldn’t have to stop drawing water during drought years, Johnson said.

“The water right we have in the Yakima is a junior water right compared to the other users on the river,” he said.

Under the new plan, only the westernmost edge of the district near Badger Canyon and West Richland and Red Mountain would draw water from the Yakima River.

Complicated Columbia

Irrigating Red Mountain and part of West Richland appears to hinge on drawing the undiverted water back out of the Columbia River. And that’s far from easy.

The district proposes to build a $28 million pumping station on the Columbia River near Edison Street in Kennewick. And the district would have 15 years to complete the project before it would need another permit from the state.

Johnson said he believes Reclamation would pay for the project as part of its endangered salmon mitigation and that Ecology would also pay for the project, but no grants have been signed yet.

The pump station would draw water out of the Columbia and pump it up into the district’s Highland Feeder and KID Main canals.

The district would pump about 195-cubic-feet-per second out of the Columbia River.

To get large pipes from the river up to the canal, the district would have to secure a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit; install massive pumps; dig under one of Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s main rail lines; dig under Highway 240; possibly reconstruct the Edison Street exchange and re-engineer several of the district’s canals.

The plan would require the water to be pumped uphill with electricity — the district’s system currently runs with water-driven pumps and gravity — and it’s not clear who would pay the electricity bill for the Edison Street pumping station, Johnson said.

If the Red Mountain pumping station started operating in 2009, there would be more Yakima River water used by KID until the district installed the Edison pumping station.

Johnson said the district would lessen the overall effect on the river by saving water through management practices and perhaps paying for improved irrigation systems on the Yakama Indian Nation Reservation, where much of the crops are still watered with rill irrigation.

And some farmers might be convinced not to irrigate their crops for a sum of money, he added.

But Johnson said he wasn’t sure how that program would work if the Edison Street pump station project wasn’t built for 15 years.

City residents’ water may get squeezed

Another idea for conserving water for Red Mountain is to further “spread” and more tightly manage the district’s water, Johnson said.

He said city residents with grassy lawns and shrubs were using their water inefficiently.

Residents are allotted 3 1/2 acre feet of water per year — enough to support commercial cherry trees and row crops — but many use more than that. The district plans to watch housing development meters more rigorously and help residents schedule their water use, Johnson said.

Also, many of those urban acres are covered by homes, garages and driveways.

In the future, the district may tally each property’s actual acreage that can be watered and more stringently regulate residents’ use of water.

“We need to have better control over urban irrigation,” Johnson said.

Also, farming operations might be allotted less water if they are growing crops like grapes that require less water than thirsty crops like potatoes or alfalfa hay.

Red Mountain ready, mostly.

Many Red Mountain grape growers are enthusiastic about the plan.

Grape growing has been limited by deep wells, massive holding ponds and inadequate irrigation since the first vines were planted about 30 years ago.

The new water would cost about $100 per acre foot each year, Johnson said.

“People have speculated on dry ground hoping for a miracle,” said Jim Holmes, owner of Ciel du Cheval Vineyard. “This is the miracle.”

Recently, Holmes decided to start his own winery called Le Ciel. He plans to grow his business on Red Mountain and add a $2 million winery by 2008.

Holmes has been collecting signatures and is organizing meetings on Red Mountain to draw the boundaries of the new LID on Red Mountain’s southern slope.

“Not everybody wants it; they like their dry ground,” he said. “I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. People who opt out are probably forever out.”

And the plan would likely create a boom of vines on the coveted hill. Much of the barren earth would likely be planted with vines to pay the expensive water bills, Holmes said.

KID would also stand to benefit from the plan.

The district owns about 800 acres on Red Mountain and its property’s value would increase dramatically with the promise of irrigation.

District officials have been researching ways they might lease their acreage to grape-growing operations, similar to the state Department of Natural Resources program.

Many residents in the proposed areas haven’t heard of the district’s plans. Some say they are skeptical that the new irrigation water would benefit them, while others say they would like to use less domestic water for their lawns.

Dan Gorton, who lives off of Sage Drive, said he owns less than an acre within the proposed boundaries, but he would like to have irrigation water.

“I spend quite a bit keeping my yard green through the summer,” he said. “It would help to green the place up.”

Johnson said residents who don’t want to be part of the district could choose to withdraw from irrigation boundaries. But it would be unlikely that they could be added to the district in the future, he said.

This story was published Monday, February 5th, 2007, By Anna King, Tri City Herald staff writer

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