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P.O. Box 42560
1111 Washington ST SE
Olympia, WA 98504-2560
Phone: (360) 902-1800

The Columbia Basin Project

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The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Columbia Basin Project is located in central Washington and primarily spans four counties - Adams, Grant, Franklin, and Lincoln. The Columbia Basin Project includes the Grand Coulee Dam and a vast irrigation system serving water to about 671,000 acres.

The Columbia Basin Project contains 47% of all irrigated cropland in Washington State.  

One of WSDA’s primary goals is to support agricultural viability throughout the state, including the Columbia Basin.

For more information regarding the Columbia Basin Project, please visit:

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia Basin Project:
https://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/cbp/index.html

The Washington State Department of Ecology’s Office of Columbia River: 
https://ecology.wa.gov/About-us/Who-we-are/Our-Programs/Office-of-Columbia-River




Agriculture in the Columbia Basin

Columbia Basin agriculture (all agriculture in Adams, Grant, Franklin, and Lincoln counties) accounts for roughly one-third of the total value of agricultural production in Washington State. 

As of 2021, Columbia Basin agriculture is worth over $3 billion in production value. Grant County is #2 in Washington for the value of agricultural production and #10 nationally.

In the Columbia Basin Region:
  • MORE THAN 90 crops are grown
  • There are OVER 3,500 farms
  • MORE THAN 13,000 people employed by farm (1/5 of all jobs are on farms).

TOP 5 Commodities in the Columbia Basin

Beyond Irrigation

Irrigation is only one component of the Columbia Basin Project. Beyond reliable irrigation, the project provides and manages water for:
  • Municipalities
  • Industries, including agriculture and food processing
  • Flood and streamflow
  • Endangered species
  • Recreation
  • Power production
To learn more about these water users, visit https://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/cbp/index.html


Threatened Groundwater Supplies in the Columbia Basin

The Odessa Subarea is located within the Columbia Basin Project and is a region in which producers currently use groundwater, as opposed to Columbia River water, to irrigate crops. Groundwater supplies and quality are quickly declining, impacting production in the region.

Various stakeholders, including WSDA, are partnering to implement the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Project. This project will replace over 80,000 groundwater-irrigated acres with Columbia River water.

For more information on the Odessa groundwater replacement project, visit the Washington State Department of Ecology's project page: https://ecology.wa.gov/Water-Shorelines/Water-supply/Water-supply-projects-EW/Columbia-River-Basin-projects/Odessa-groundwater-replacement