Days of Wine and Roses in West Richland

You can’t grow either without water, and in this land surrounded by three rivers, water isn’t always readily available where you want it, when you want it.  And you’ll certainly pay to get it.

In Sunday’s Tri-City Herald, they printed an interesting story about the LID (Local Improvement District) coming to Red Mountain, which is where the great grapes are grown.

Basically, if you want water for your land there, sign up to be part of the LID now, because otherwise, you’ll be stuck waiting for your well to be permitted and who knows how long that will take.  Some people have already been waiting for years. In addition, they say they won’t allow you to opt-in to it later.

Like all things real-estate related, it’s kind of a gamble.  If you have no plans to grow grapes and you own land in the Red Mountain AVA, then you might be thinking, “Why should I pay to irrigate land I’m not growing anything on?”

The bottom line is that it makes it more valuable, even if your plans don’t include viticulture.  Perhaps the NEXT person who owns your land will want it, and if it’s already in, that’s great, because word is, the next person wouldn’t be able to get it because they came to the party too late.