Tom Myrum, Washington State Water Resources Association
Center-pivot irrigation along the Columbia River in Washington State.
T
he Washington State Water Resources Association (WSWRA), based in Olympia, is the coordinating agency for irrigation districts across Washington State. It represents over 100 irrigation districts and companies, which together deliver water to over 1.1 million acres of irrigated agriculture. The WSWRA is the oldest continuously active organization dedicated to the development and operation of irrigated lands and to related water resource activities in Washington State. Today, irrigation districts, like all businesses across the United States, are seeing their operations affected by the COVID‑19 pandemic. In this interview, WSWRA Executive Director Tom Myrum tells Irrigation Leader about what WSWRA is doing to face up to this crisis. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about yourself and the WSWRA.
64 | IRRIGATION LEADER | JUNE 2020 - COVID-19 SPECIAL ISSUE
Irrigation Leader: How has the pandemic affected the farmers and irrigation districts who are members of your association? Tom Myrum: A large majority of the agriculture in Washington State is made up of high-value crops, known as specialty crops, so agriculture in this state is often labor intensive, with smaller farms than what you’d see in the Midwest. A lot of the farm workers are essential to keeping the farms functioning, so the coronavirus has had bigger effects on the farmers themselves than on the irrigation districts. As we budget for next year, we’re looking at how the effects on the farms will eventually come to affect the irrigation districts. Irrigation Leader: How did the WSWRA itself respond to the pandemic? Tom Myrum: In the beginning, there was so much information coming out of the federal government. Various IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM BEEBE.
Tom Myrum: I’ve been the executive director of the WSWRA for almost 25 years. It is a small association with just two employees: my executive assistant and me. The WSWRA has over 100 irrigation district members who deliver water to 1.2 million acres of irrigated agriculture. Irrigated agriculture is a nearly $7 billion industry in
Washington State, and about two-thirds of all irrigated agriculture in the state is represented by irrigation districts, so we have a major stake in the state’s agricultural sector.
