White Salmon sees water as key to growth

Thanks to a new state water right and water filtration system,the Columbia Gorge town of White Salmon will get a guaranteed watersupply and an expected boost in economic development over the next20 years.

The town of 2,400, about 60 miles east of Vancouver on a bluffoverlooking the Columbia River, has been living under a buildingmoratorium for three years. Thats meant turning away businessesinterested in locating there.

Before the recession hit, we had companies, we had people whowanted to build, industry that wanted to go in, said Mayor DavidPoucher. The former Forest Service district ranger ran for the jobof mayor three years ago specifically to help solve the towns waterwoes.

A deal negotiated by the city, the Washington Department ofEcology and the Klickitat Public Utility District will add 780 acre-feet of water to the citys water rights portfolio, doubling thevolume of water available to the community each year.

An acre-foot of water is the amount of water needed to cover anacre of land one foot deep, about 325,851 gallons.

Some of that water was formerly used at the Goldendale Aluminumplant on the Columbia River, now shuttered.

In addition, the city won grants that allowed it to pay for aslow-sand filtration system on Buck Creek, a tributary of the WhiteSalmon River a few miles northwest of the town. The new water rightallows the town to divert water from the creek, running it throughthe filtration system to remove pathogens such as giardia andcryptosporidium.

Gov. Chris Gregoire applauded the parties for remaining committedto finding a creative path forward, adding, These kinds ofpartnerships and win-win outcomes are what we need to protect jobsand create new economic ventures.

Ecology worked with local and state officials and the YakamaTribe to minimize the effects on fish habitat. The city agreed todivert less water from Aug. 1 through Oct. 31 in exchange for morewater at other times of the year. During late summer and early fall,it will rely more heavily on wells.

Klickitat PUD Commissioner Randy Knowles said the agreement willallow White Salmon and nearby Bingen, with a combined population of5,000, to meet the demand for residential and commercial growth.

Boeing-owned Insitu began manufacturing unmanned aircraft as astartup at the Port of Klickitat in Bingen in 2002. The company,which supplies drones to the U.S. military for use in Afghanistan,now has 500 employees at 24 facilities scattered throughout theColumbia Gorge and in Vancouver. Its seeking a location for a new 25-acre campus in the Gorge to consolidate its headquarters and most ofits other sites. The competition among cities has been intense.

Poucher hopes the lifting of the moratorium will help WhiteSalmon compete.

Insitu went out for proposals a year ago, looking for places togo, he said Now we have water. That was one of their concerns. Likeany industry, they want their employees to be able to live nearwhere they work.

Sounding like the community booster he has become, Poucher saidWhite Salmon is now ideally situated to welcome new greenbusinesses.

We have a very talented work force, a very educated work force,he said. We have a very solid school system. The town is on a majortransportation corridor, with a busy port that accommodates bargetraffic and a rail line, state highway and interstate freewaynearby. We have fantastic high-speed Internet. Now weve got water,and weve got space.