Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/132109
The scenario is repeating itself, Lucas believes, as the Washington State cherry crop surges (often with new varieties developed in British Columbia). "We've seen this happen with apples over the past 50 years, we're now seeing it with cherries—this incredible expansion. And a lot of it is due to the availability of water," he said. "And how is that linked to the Columbia River Treaty? Our task is to do that investigation and provide that information." Washington tree fruit surveys show that the state's cherry acreage increased from 13,925 to 38,115 acres between 1986 and 2011. Two-thirds of the total acreage is in the Wenatchee and Columbia Basin districts. The less change to the treaty, the better, said Tom Myrum, executive director of the Washington State Water Resources Association, which represents the state's 35 irrigation districts. Yes, water's key "In general, the irrigation districts would like to keep operations as they are. It's much easier to deal with the known compared with the unknown," he said. Without renewal of the treaty's flood control provisions, dams and reservoirs in Washington State would likely bear a greater responsibility for flood control, Myrum explained. The river would carry the same amount of water, but management would have a different purpose. Power generation and flood control would take priority, while irrigation systems would be secondary. "What does that mean to the operation of the reservoirs that we have for so long been operating for the benefit of irrigation?" Myrum asked. "The best we can do is theorize. What we want is security of water delivery on an annual basis. We don't want the unknown." All amounts quoted are in Canadian dollars, which are currently nearly equivalent with U.S. currency. • Orchard-Rite® Wind Machines • www.orchard-rite.com "Orchard Rite Service is second to none." WHAT IS THE Columbia River Treaty? A model of international cooperation, the Columbia River Treaty between the United States and Canada aimed to boost powergenerating capacity along the river and improve flood control. The treaty authorized construction of four dams on the upper Columbia River system, including three in British Columbia and a fourth on the Kootenai River in Montana. In exchange for flood control in the United States, Canada received a one-time payment of $64 million (at the time, an amount equivalent to half the cost of flood damages the United States expected to avoid under the treaty). British Columbia also received an annual allocation of hydropower equivalent to half the estimated increase in U.S. generating capacity, thanks to water released from the dams in Canada. This year, the amount is approximately 4,275 gigawatt hours—enough to power about 1.25 million homes. The treaty has no end date, but either party has the right to terminate its provisions after 60 years, with at least 10 years' advance notice. Termination would leave British Columbia without its power allocation. Should the treaty remain in place post-2024, a new agreement must be hammered out regarding compensation for flood control and water diversion provided by dams in Canada. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Power Administration is overseeing the U.S. review of the treaty, and rolled out a second report at a series of public open houses this spring. B.C.'s Ministry of Energy and Mines is overseeing the review in Canada. Various stakeholders, including the agriculture sector, sit on the ministry's review panel. The results of public consultations to date will be released in June. —P. Mitham www.goodfruit.com "We're real believers in the Auto Start option." Steve Nunley A s the operations manager for Pride Packing, I am responsible for managing 2,800 acres of orchard under 260 wind machines. Of that, approximately 1,000 acres are in stone fruit with the remaining acreage in apples and pears. From November to February, we can deal with arctic events that will take our temperature into the single digits—and even subzero. I really don't think it's possible to grow stone fruit economically in the Yakima Valley without wind machines. This last year, we would not have even had an apricot crop without them. All of our wind machine purchases since 1982 have been Orchard-Rite. In the wintertime, when we're starting these machines, the temperatures are usually single digits to subzero. We depend on—and have complete confidence in—our Orchard-Rite® Wind Machines and the service we receive. We still have the first Orchard-Rite® Wind Machine we ever bought! We're real believers in the Auto Start option. We order Auto Start on all our new machines. To date, we've retrofitted about 50% of our old machines, and plan to put the Auto Start on the remaining machines. Steve Nunley, Farming Operations Manager Pride Packing, Wapato, Washington Get the Orchard-Rite® story from your nearest representative: 1615 W. Ahtanum • Yakima, WA 98903 • 509-248-8785, ext. 612 For the representative nearest you, visit our Web site: www.orchard-rite.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER June 2013 7