SPOKANE – The state will provide $600,000 this year to begin studying ways to increase irrigation to 170,000 acres of farmland in Eastern Washington that provide much of the nation’s potato supply for french fries.
The area is at risk of losing its water- and its factories that produce frozen french fries – as a result of the sharp decline of the Odessa Aquifer, Gov. Christine Gregoire said Wednesday.
“Agriculture is one of the main economic engines of our state, and water is the lifeblood of central Washington’s agricultural community,” Gregoire said in a statement.
Members of the Columbia Basin Development League met with Gregoire last week, and the governor decided to find money for the study this year.
Roger Thieme, chairman of the nonprofit league, said time is running out for farmers who need irrigation water to produce the potato, alfalfa and corn crops that fuel the area’s economy.
“The loss of this source of water would be devastating, and time is running out,” Thieme said. “We appreciate the governor’s rapid action to provide this funding.”
A recent study by Washington State University found that loss of the potato crop and the related processing plants would cost the region $630 million per year and 3,600 jobs.
The study, commissioned by the Washington State Potato Commission, found that one acre of irrigated potatoes produces $17,700 of economic activity in a year, compared with $113 from the same acre used for wheat growing.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
