Volume 12 Issue 9 October Washington State Edition
Advancing Construction, Innovation, and Education By Kris Polly Many things come together to make irrigated agriculture possible: infrastructure, including dams, reservoirs, and canals; new inventions to promote safe water delivery; education for professionals; and governmental relations work to ensure that legislators understand what farmers need to be successful. The Washington State Potato Commission supports […]
Kurt Miller of Northwest RiverPartners: Educating the Public and Policymakers About Hydropower and Irrigation
Dams have the potential to serve many of society’s needs: clean energy, transportation, irrigation, and flood control. But dams and hydropower can also generate controversy regarding conservation and river temperatures, which is often inflamed by misinformation. This often can hinder efforts to integrate hydropower into the renewable energy economy now being required by federal and […]
Volume 12 Issue 8 September Washington State
The Many Benefits of the Northwest’s Dams By Kris Polly The irrigation water drawn from the Pacific Northwest’s dams is critical to the region’s valuable agricultural production. In this month’s cover interview, Kurt Miller of Northwest RiverPartners tells us about how his organization works to educate policymakers and the public about the benefits of […]
Volume 12 Issue 7 July/August Washington State
Measuring an Entire Basin The 1945 consent degree in the Yakima basin established a method of distributing water to a variety of classes of water rightholders. However, to do this, a measure of the total water supply available in the basin was required. Chris Lynch, the river operations engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation’s […]
Roger Sonnichsen of the Quincy–Columbia Basin Irrigation District
The Quincy–Columbia Basin Irrigation District (QCBID) is one of the three irrigation districts operating the Columbia Basin Project (CBP), which brings water resources to the Columbia basin. It serves about 250,000 acres, which grow over 45 crops. In this interview, QCBID Manager Roger Sonnichsen tells Irrigation Leader about QCBID’s current top issues and how it […]
Volume 12 Issue 6 June Washington State Edition
Experience and Vision By Kris Polly In this month’s Washington State edition, we speak with Roger Sonnichsen, the general manager of the Quincy– Columbia Basin Irrigation District (QCBID). Mr. Sonnichsen’s professional experience spans working for the state government, for Reclamation, and as a consultant for water resources planning, all of which has built his […]
Volume 12 Issue 5 May Washington State Edition
Toni Meacham: Wrangling Water Law in Washington By Kris Polly Toni Meacham is a highly respected ag and water attorney in central Washington State. She is also an active, fifth-generation rancher. Her personal and family background as well as her legal training gives her and insider’s knowledge of ag and water law, making her […]
Volume 12 Issue 4 April Washington State Edition
An Advocate for Washington Water and Hydropower Users By Kris Polly In this month’s Washington State edition of Irrigation Leader, I am pleased to present an interview of Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers carried out by Washington State Water Resources Association Executive Director Tom Myrum. In it, Tom asks Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers about her priorities […]
Volume 12 Issue 3 March Washington State Edition
Tree Fruit: A Crucial Element of Washington’s Irrigated Agriculture Barge traffic on the Columbia and Snake Rivers is a major route by which Washington State’s irrigated crops are shipped to the coast and around the world, and the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA) is the trade association that brings together ports, businesses, public agencies, […]
Volume 12 Issue 2 February Washington State Edition
Tree Fruit: A Crucial Element of Washington’s Irrigated Agriculture In this month’s issue of Irrigation Leader, we highlight tree fruit, truly a jewel in the crown of Washington’s irrigated agriculture. As Jon DeVaney, the president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association (WSTFA), tells us, tree fruit makes up 25–30 percent of the approximately […]