UMATILLA â More than six decades after regulators first documented groundwater declines in Umatilla and Morrow counties, the East Project irrigation system was dedicated before a crowd of about two dozen along the Columbia River on Tuesday, May 11. The more than $50 million project aims to provide farmers with river water in lieu of pumping from the ground in an effort to recharge depleted aquifers and allow farmers to grow higher value crops. âIt wouldnât be possible unless there was a lot of people supporting it, and then the benefits are going to be broad,â said Carl St. Hilaire, president of JSH Farms in Hermiston. âJust as the support was broad, the benefits will be broad in terms of economic benefits for the entire community.â