Agricultural Issues and a Modernized Treaty
John Wagner, UBC Okanagan
Spicer Farm near Nakusp before the flooding of the Arrow Lakes.
Arrow Lakes Historical Society, Megaprojects New Media.
Water Governance and Agriculture in the Columbia River Basin
A pilot project funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council Insight Development Grant
Creston
Valley in
British
Columbia
Moses Lake
region in
Washington
State
Source: adapted
from a map
created by US
Army Corp of
Engineers.
The Spicer’s market garden overlooking Arrow Lake
Source: Arrow Lakes Historical Society. Megaprojects New Media.
Spicer farm 2004
Source: Arrow Lakes Historical Society. Megaprojects New Media.
Nakusp waterfront 2004
Source: Arrow Lakes Historical Society. Megaprojects New Media.
25,000 acres of arable land flooded in the Arrow Lakes region
14 communities and about 2000 people displaced
Several hundred more displaced by Lake Koocanusa
behind Libby dam
Were Arrow Lakes farming families adequately
compensated for their losses?
What is the value of agricultural land in an
increasingly food insecure and water scarce world?
Does food security require sustainable agricultural
communities?
Lake Koocanusa behind Libby Dam
Columbia Basin
Project
Grand Coulee
Banks Lake
Roosevelt Lake
Quincy
Basin
Potholes
Reservoir
•
•
•
•
•
•
Implemented in 1952
Irrigates 671,000 acres
2000 miles of canals
Distributes about 3
million acre-feet of
water annually
Benefits from storage
from Canadian dams
Has generated entirely
new groundwater
effects – water mounds
Source: US Bureau of Reclamation
John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant
Main Canal flowing south to Quincy Basin
Provincial Agricultural Land Commission Study
1994
by
Wendy Holm
Evaluation of the Effect of downstream benefits
to Washington State Agriculture Under the
Columbia Treaty on the Competitive Positioning
of B.C. Producers.
“The Facts”
• In 1962 the Columbia Basin Project was supplying irrigation
water to 452,756 acres of land.
• By 1972 the total had increased to 517,400 acres
• By 1992 the total had increased to 577,000 acres
• Today the total is 671,000 acres.
But Holm’s argument is NOT about an increase in
irrigated acreage due to Canadian storage
It is about LATE SUMMER irrigation capacity
“The Facts”
• Prior to construction of the CRT dams, the Banks Lake system
could not provide reliable late summer irrigation water to the
Columbia Basin Project area.
• Late summer flows in the Columbia can be as low as 1/5 of
the average flow for the year.
• According to Holm’s calculations, the Canadian contribution to
late summer storage is sufficient to provide an additional 2
acre-feet of irrigation water to 532,000 acres, thus providing
them with a SECURE late summer supply.
• Once CBT dams were constructed, Washington State farmers
began shifting to higher value crops: apples, alfalfa,
asparagus, potatoes, wheat, onions, grapes, rather than
multiple hay crops, barley, oats and sugar beets.
Agricultural Development of the Columbia
Basin Project Area, 1962-1992
• Area planted in apples increased from 484 to 27,433 acres.
• Apple yield per acre increased by 204%.
• Apple crop value increased from 1.3 to 150 million dollars.
• Area planted in grapes increased from 45 to 13,909 acres.
• Asparagus: from 628 to 35,941 acres.
• Onions: from 1,249 to 29,614 acres.
• The real market value of all crops harvested in the Columbia
Basin Project area increased by 219.2% compared to a 39%
increase in the rest of Washington State (calculated in
constant 1992 CA$).
The Cost of Water
• Bureau of Reclamation provides hidden subsidies.
• Farmers pay only 15 cents on every dollar spent on
irrigation infrastructure and system maintenance.
• They receive other subsidies for rural electrification and
pumping costs.
• US farmers receive an additional hidden subsidy by
receiving CRT storage water at no cost to them.
• Farmers pay Bureau of Reclamation an annual fee, not a
charge per volume used
The Quincy Mound
Deep aquifer (basalt):
29,000 acre-feet
Upper aquifer (overlying
unconsolidated deposits):
currently stores 3.5 million
acre-feet (Banks Lake
storage capacity is only
715,000 acre-feet)
The Pasco Mound
Deep Aquifer:
23,000 acre-feet
Upper Aquifer:
now stores 5 million
acre-feet
Sources: Tanaka et al.
1974; Washington State
Department of Ecology
Water added to Quincy mound from 1952 to 1968
Source: Tanaka et al. 1974
The first use of irrigation water…
West
Canal
Source: US Bureau of Reclamation
Second use of the same water
(private well in the Quincy Mound area)
Washington State Department of Ecology issues permits to
individual applicants for groundwater use.
Water users must sign a contract with the Bureau of
Reclamation, the owner of the water.
“An economic analysis was conducted for the 15 new permits
Ecology issued in spring 2010 for the Quincy Basin. It was
calculated that these permits will increase land values by
$83M, income from farm production by $24.22M, and add
over 1000 jobs to the local economy.
Source: Washington State Department of Ecology. 508-14 WAC Rule-Making.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cwp/50814Rule.html.
Volume of mound water licensed in the
Quincy Basin
• 177,000 acre-feet total annual withdrawal
• (out of a total of 3.5 million acre-feet)
• Total volume of water delivered to the Quincy Basin
from Banks Lake? about 1 million acre-feet
• Mound water thus currently allows for the re-use of
about 15% of the total volume of CBP irrigation water
Potential third use of the same water
Photo by author: looking south from Frenchmen Hills
Royal Slope and Pasco Basin
Source: Adapted from Google Maps
After third use in the Royal slope the water will drain back into the
Columbia River via Lower Crab Creek
West
Canal
Columbia
River
Lower Crab Creek (waste way)
Lower Crab Creek, Royal Slope
Photo by author: looking east with Saddle Mountains on the right
Alternative third use of water….
Potholes
Canal
Four or five uses are possible...
Othello
Potholes
Canal
Scooteney
Reservoir
Mesa
Pasco Mound
Final use of the water
(private well in Pasco mound area)
By scaling the analysis done for the 15 Quincy permits to the
117 pending applications for the 508-14 area, a rough
approximation of the economic returns can be made:
• An $178.4M increase in agricultural land value
• An $468M increase in commercial land value
• An $189M annual increase from increased agricultural
production and cycling the money through the economy
• 2122 new jobs from development of agricultural systems
and cycling the money through the economy
• 6014 new jobs from commercial development and cycling
the money through the economy
508-14 WAC Rule-Making. Department of Ecology.
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cwp/50814Rule.html
Ecological effects of water mounds?
Photo by author: looking south from near the Potholes reservoir
How to Integrate Agriculture in a
Comprehensive Basin-wide Governance
• Broaden the scope of the Columbia River Treaty to
include ecosystem functions, fisheries, agriculture,
tourism, recreational hunting and fishing…
• Or, create a new comprehensive agreement in which
the treaty becomes one of several cross-border side
agreements.
• At a minimum, provide for an equitable distribution
of agricultural benefits in British Columbia and
Washington.
• Agriculture is too big a player to leave out…