PORTLAND — The latest effort to develop new irrigation water for Umatilla Basin farmers could provide a breakthrough in what has been a long-standing stalemate between farmers, environmentalists and other fish interests.
At a symposium on Columbia River water at the Northwest Agricultural Show Jan. 29, Craig Reeder, a Umatilla Basin farmer, said a broad coalition is prepared to sign a declaration of cooperation that could increase irrigation supplies in the basin for the first time in two decades…