OGWRP Partners Submit RCPP Proposals for the EL 22.1 Irrigation Delivery System & On-Farm Buildouts

September 22, 2026 | Moses Lake, WA

The Columbia Basin Conservation District (CBCD), in partnership with federal, state, local, and agricultural partners, has submitted three Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) proposals to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help construct the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program's (OGWRP) EL 22.1 public irrigation delivery system and on-farm buildouts.

Across the three proposals, CBCD requested $29.2 million through RCPP, with project partners contributing $62.5 million, including $49.2 million from Washington State through the Department of Ecology's Office of Columbia River and an additional nearly $10 million committed by the EL 22.1 Landowner Association, both for construction of the public irrigation delivery system. Partner contributions include cash and in-kind contributions for construction funding, research and monitoring, cultural resources work, producer outreach, economic analysis, soil health coordination and implementation, project coordination and oversight.

The EL 22.1 contributing partners include:

• Washington State Department of Ecology, Office of Columbia River (OCR)

• EL 22.1 Landowner Association

• East Columbia Basin Irrigation District (ECBID)

• Washington State Conservation Commission (WSCC)

• Columbia Basin Development League (CBDL)

• Washington State University (WSU)

• Washington State Potato Commission (WSPC)

• Spokane Conservation District (SCD)

• U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)

• Columbia Basin Conservation District (CBCD)

• Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA)

• Lincoln County Conservation District (LCCD)

• Columbia Basin Sustainable Water Coalition (CBSWC)

• Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG)

The RCPP request and partnership build on years of investment already made to bring EL 22.1 to construction readiness. The irrigation delivery system, designed by IRZ Engineering and Consulting, is 100 percent designed, approved, and ready for construction.

OGWRP partners and producers discuss project management for the EL 22.1 irrigation delivery system at the Department of Ecology in Spokane in August 2025.

The EL 22.1 is the next major system of the OGWRP to be constructed. Once completed, the system will transition 17,324 acres of irrigated farmland from the declining Odessa Aquifer to Columbia River surface water through the Columbia Basin Project, effectively retiring 34 deep aquifer wells and conserving approximately 17 billion gallons in the aquifer each year.

The project will directly support 30 agricultural producer and landowner entities and more than 70 farm families, while conserving groundwater relied upon by communities, food processors, and agricultural producers throughout the region. In addition to helping protect the sole source of drinking water for 22 communities, EL 22.1 will improve the long-term viability of irrigated agriculture in the Odessa Subarea. Replacing increasingly hot, mineralized groundwater with higher-quality Columbia River water will reduce salt loading to soils, improve soil health and crop productivity, and lower pumping and soil amendment costs.

EL 22.1 irrigation delivery system located within the Odessa Subarea.

NRCS has become a major implementation partner in the OGWRP, investing nearly $60 million in the program, including approximately $46 million through four previous RCPP awards. Those investments have helped complete the EL 86.4 system and are supporting construction and on-farm infrastructure for EL 80.6 and EL 84.7, which are slated to be completed in April 2027.

The three EL 22.1 proposals seek to build on that successful partnership and carry the momentum forward to the next implementation-ready OGWRP system. Every RCPP dollar awarded to EL 22.1 will reduce the significant financial burden on producers, accelerate groundwater replacement, and move the region closer to securing a sustainable water future for agriculture and communities in the Columbia Basin.

CBCD anticipates hearing the outcomes of the three RCPP proposals for the EL 22.1 in November 2026.

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CBCD would like to thank the Washington State Legislature, the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Office of Columbia River, IRZ Engineering and Consulting, the EL 22.1 landowners, and all of the contributing partners who were instrumental in developing this year’s RCPP proposals. CBCD’s ability to coordinate, develop, and submit these proposals was made possible by funding from the Washington State Legislature through the Climate Commitment Act.