Herb Snelgrove Memorial Remineralization Project

In June of 2007, The Soap Lake Conservancy announced the formation of a memorial fund to honor decades of community leadership by the late Herb Snelgrove, a co-founder of the Conservancy who died Dec.19, 2006 at age 85.

What is the fund for? The Herb Snelgrove Memorial Soap Lake Remineralization Project will be dedicated to advance methods that will enhance the preservation of the remaining mineral content of Soap Lake, which has been diminishing since intensive irrigated farming arrived in the area. The Columbia Basin Project, one of the largest irrigation systems in the world was developed in the 1940s by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR.)

Why is the remineralization of Soap Lake necessary? The Columbia Basin Project, both a power generation and irrigation project utilizes the water of the Columbia River in the central part of the State of Washington. The key structure, Grand Coulee Dam, is on the main stem of the Columbia River about 90 miles west of Spokane and 45 miles north and east of Soap Lake.

The extensive irrigation works and the associated irrigated farms surrounding Soap Lake are causing the dilution of the lake and have required periodic surface pumping of the lake to prevent flooding of some buildings in the town. The irrigation canals extend southward on the Columbia Plateau 125 miles to the vicinity of Pasco, Washington, where the Snake and Columbia Rivers join. There are over 300 miles of main canals, about 2,000 miles of laterals, and 3,500 miles of drains and wasteways on the project. Soap Lake is in the middle of the northern portion of the project surrounded by these facilities. One of the world’s largest inverted siphons carries irrigation water around the north end of the lake.

The project irrigation facilities were planned to deliver a full water supply to about 1.1 million acres of land previously used only for dry farming or grazing. About 671,000 acres are currently irrigated and further development is under consideration at this time. Power production facilities at Grand Coulee Dam are among the largest in the world; the total name plate generating capacity is rated at 6,809 megawatts. The project has transformed the desert around the lake, much of which was dry and vacant into a model of thriving agriculture. Unfortunately the costs of this transformation included the eventual and ongoing freshening of Soap Lake.

What is financial structure of the Snelgrove Project? The remineralization project has been kicked off with a $10,000 donation by an anonymous donor. A check in that amount was presented to JoEllen Martin, Manager of the Columbia Basin Foundation, by the Conservancy President John Glassco and Treasurer Mary Ackerman at the foundation office in in Ephrata, WA. The Foundation will continue to administer the donations to this project and make funds available when required by the Trustees of the Conservancy. The fund is a capital improvement fund only and is for specific projects and not to be used for the routine operation of the Conservancy. 

On what kinds of projects will the funds be spent? The need for a long-range water management system is critical to protect the lake’s unique ecosystem in order to continue to study life forms that have learned to survive in its harsh environment. The Conservancy has begun discussions with the Ephrata office of the USBR to seek solutions. The USBR through partnership with local irrigation districts controls the majority of flow of irrigation water in the Columbia Basin. One of the possibilities being discussed is the construction of a desalination plant similar to the one pictured to the right. This plant located in Foinikia Greece is used to create drinking water. Rather than create fresh water, a plant like the one pictured if built in Soap Lake could remove minerals from lake water and dispose of the fresh water into the canals. This way the minerals could be returned to the lake instead of being lost in the control of lake levels. 

Who was Herb Snelgrove? Besides being one of the founding trustees of the non-profit Soap Lake Conservancy in 1999, Snelgrove devoted a large part of his life to community service. He was an administrator of the Grant County Housing Authority, past president of the local McKay Hospital District, member of the local Grange, Rotary Club, Masonic Lodge and Board of Equalization. He spent much of World War II in a German prison camp after his B-17 bomber was shot down on his first mission.

Public donations to support the Conservancy efforts to protect Soap Lake may be submitted to the Herb Snelgrove Memorial Soap Lake Remineralization Project. Contact Foundation Manager, Donn Cook, at (509) 754-4596. She will be happy to assist you. You can also write the Foundation at, 234 1st Avenue NW., Ephrata, WA 98823.

Contact Information

Soap Lake Conservancy

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 65, Soap Lake, WA 98851

Telephone: (509) 246-0566

Email: General Information:

Last Revised: 09/01/2009   soaplakeconservancy.org / thelake.org
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