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FUNDING: Murray Wins Funding for Columbia Basin, Lower Monumental by Staff Tri-City Herald, October 15, 2009

Almost $2.6 million for improvements at Lower Monumental Lock and Dam and $3 million for a Columbia Basin water study have been included in the 2010 Senate Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said today.

The bill has now been approved by both houses of Congress after passing the Senate today by a vote of 80-17 and will now head to the president, who Murray said is expected to sign it into law.

Murray said the Lower Monumental lock work is critical to continued movement of the more than 2.8 million tons of cargo valued at $750 million that travels on the Columbia Snake River System annually.

The $3 million for the Odessa Subarea Special Study would advance a feasibility study on how to sustain the Odessa aquifer, which Murray said supplies drinking water for local residents and irrigation for millions of dollars worth of crops. "In the Columbia Basin, nothing could be more important than water access," said Murray. "From Moses Lake to the Tri-Cities, our farmers and communities need and deserve a safe, reliable, sustainable water supply.

The Lower Monumental funding was among $14.4 million in funding Murray obtained for Corps of Engineers projects on the Columbia River system.