Columbia Basin Development League elects 2013 board, officers

The Columbia Basin Development League, which was created in 1964 to support the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s Columbia Basin Project, recently announced the newly elected board and officers for 2013.

Milton Johnston, of Ellensburg, was elected chair of the board; Orman Johnson, of Othello was elected vice chair; Jake Wollman, Jr., of Warden as treasurer; and Jeff Schibel of Odessa as secretary.

Ron Fode, of Moses Lake, continues on the board as past chair; and Andy Erickson with J.R. Simplot in Moses Lake was newly elected to the board of trustees. Renewing trustees includes Heath Gimmestad, Moses Lake; Bernard Erickson, Ritzville; Joe Gross, Marlin; John Preston, Warden; Richard Stevens, Soap Lake; Rick Miller, Pasco; and William Wagoner, Quincy.

The remainder of the board includes Alice Parker, Royal City; Dale Pomeroy, Warden; Dennis Bly, Davenport; Mark Booker, Othello; Steve Connors, Warden; David Greenwalt, Odessa; Clark Kagele, Odessa; Kevin Lyle, Othello; Mike LaPlant, Ephrata; Christine Mianecki, Royal City; John Moody, Ephrata; Reid Phillips, Ritzville; Eli Stahl, Ritzville; and David Stevens, Wilson Creek.

The Columbia Basin Development League promotes the orderly extension of irrigation infrastructure to eligible lands within the Columbia Basin Project, and recent focus by the League is to prevent economic and environmental disaster by replacing Odessa Aquifer groundwater withdrawals with project water. The impact of the Basin Project is significant. A recent economic impact study done by the irrigation districts in the project found the farm gate value of all crops grown in the project reaches $1.44 billion. These crops are then processed and the value increases:

• In the project area: $3.68 billion in output (value of goods and services produced), $1.59 billion in income (farmers, employees and property), and 28,500 jobs

• Elsewhere in Washington: $484 million in output, $194 million in income, and 2,400 jobs

• Across U.S. (outside of Washington state): $1.7 billion in output, $662 million in input, and 8,000 jobs

• Sales tax: Contribution to Washington state is $38 million