Two more irrigation systems designed to replace declining well water with Columbia River surface water in the Odessa Subarea are slated to begin construction later this year.

The East Columbia Basin Irrigation District board on June 4 approved 17 contracts with 15 landowners for the EL 84.7 system, totaling 6,209.8 acres. Construction is expected to begin this year.

“This will be the third public system that gets started,” Craig Simpson, irrigation district manager, told the Capital Press. “It’s got a lot of support.”

It represents about 10% of acreage in the Odessa Subarea special study, where farmers have been relying on declining deep-well irrigation.

The project receives funding through the state, USDA Natural Resources Conservation District’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program and landowner contributions.

The total system is expected to cost close to $43 million. The state funding and RCPP funding total nearly $38 million, with landowners expected to fund nearly $5 million.

Another system, the EL 80.6 system, is also making progress. It’s also almost completely funded through state and RCPP funding. That system would serve about 13 landowners and 5,862 acres.

The 80.6 system design is under review and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is working on easement acquisitions, Simpson said. He hopes to have contracts in place and begin construction work in late fall or early winter.

Both are part of what was originally considered the EL 79.2 system, Simpson said.

“For us, trying to get 90,000 acres of groundwater replacement has been a major focus now for a decade,” Simpson said. “This is another huge step in trying to get that taken a little bit further.”