Maximum irrigation efficiency, like all farming, is a balancing act

OTHELLO — The eternal challenge of the farmer – or one of them, anyway – is water. Adequate irrigation water is what turned substantial sections of Central and Eastern Washington into some of the most productive farmland and orchard land in the country. Getting the most out of the available water has been the focus of research and experimentation for more than a century, and it still is. Irrigation, at least theoretically, is less susceptible to the whims of nature than dryland farming. Craig Simpson, secretary-manager of the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District, said the Columbia Basin Project ensures a predictable supply of water year in and year out. “We’re really fortunate. From my point of view, there’s just not a better water source from an actual quantity that’s available than the Columbia River,” Simpson said. “And we’ve never been interrupted in our 75-year history. We’ve never had a curtailment because of water supply in the Columbia.”