The governor signs legislation to improve water use in the Columbia Basin Project area.
SCOTT: Representative Mary Dye authored the bill that aims to improve the use of state water resources for farming. House Bill 1752 allows the Bureau of Reclamation to request a change in the number of acres that may be irrigated in the Columbia Basin Project area.
DYE: “With the technology that we install in the fields, we know exactly how much water is going into that soil and the plants get exactly what they need when they need it. So, we’re not wasting water – we’re being very precise with the way we use our water.”
SCOTT: Dye says by replacing failing deep wells with a new surface water delivery system, farmers could use cell phones and field sensors to determine where and when to irrigate.
DYE: “We’re not your grandpas farmer – we’re something new and different – and the water that we use goes to feed a hungry world in the most efficient manner possible.”
SCOTT: Dye adds that the crops grown in the Columbia Basin produce the equivalent of the annual groceries purchased by nearly nine million Americans.Nic Scott, the state Capitol.