KID Customers: The Farms
About 500 of the Kennewick Irrigation District's thousands of ratepayers are farmers. Their crops range from orchards to grass and vegetable crops. The biggest change in Eastern Washington's economy since the introduction of irrigation has been the development of hundreds of acres of world-class vineyards and wineries from Yakima to Walla Walla.
In the near future, the KID plans to expand service to include Red Mountain, which is fast becoming the state's hottest new American Viticultural Area (AVA). Wide swaths of the mountain are turning from brown to green as new vineyards are planted each year. With that change, the productive capacity and value of the land continues to skyrocket...
Because much of the water served by the KID goes to water crops, the "On-Farm Loan Program" was created to assist farmers in using water more efficiently. Projects that meet the following criteria may qualify for KID financing:
- System upgrades to improve efficiency, such as the change from rill to sprinkler, center pivot or drip systems, or from sprinkler to center pivot systems, or the like.
- Installation of tail-water (or other, similar) return systems.
- Development of wells for agricultural use. (Minimum parcel size of 10 acres)
Projects can be funded up to $1200 per acre, up to 90% of the total cost. The loan may be paid back over 10 years at an interest rate equal to Washington state's bond rate plus one per cent, but not less than 6%. To learn more about the On-Farm Loan process, click here.