U.S. Water News Online
WEST RICHLAND, Wash. -- A 1977 law intended to discourage proliferation of ``corporate'' farms is having an unintended effect on owners of some small farms.
West Richland officials also contend the law is preventing them from getting potential water needed for the city's growth.
At issue is how the state Department of Ecology interprets the Family Farm Act of 1977, an initiative Washington voters approved to protect small farms from being swallowed up by corporations.
Ecology spokeswoman Mary Getchell said the agency has little room to maneuver under the law, which requires permits to be issued for small farm irrigation.
The agency says the law opposes changes of farm water use to anything other than a family farm. The law says the agency is supposed to suspend water permits if it finds the water is being used for ``land not in conformity with the definition of a family farm.''
What the law didn't account for was a day when a farmer's water is worth more than his crops. The 1977 initiative forbids new appropriations of public water for private farms over 2,000 acres.
``Many family farmers right now are looking for some kind of alternatives,'' said Henry Johnson, Franklin County water conservancy board chairman and a Pasco real estate salesman.
``Many of them are struggling to make ends meet with their current cropping rotation and I think a lot of them are beginning to think about how they can benefit from their assets in other ways, such as water transfers,'' he said.
John B. Michel of Kennewick wants to keep his farm, but sell his untapped groundwater rights to West Richland, which drilled a well last year that didn't deliver as much water as officials hoped.
The city has agreed to purchase water rights from Michel. It seeks about 3,100 gallons per minute -- enough for about 2,400 homes -- for about $750,000.
But to make the deal, the parties need to get Michel's water rights changed from ``agricultural irrigation'' to ``municipal'' use.
Michel's request for a water transfer is before the Benton County water conservancy board, which was expected to make a decision by the end of the month.
Dennis Wright, West Richland's public works director, said the city expects the Ecology Department to oppose the transfer.
Joel Merkel, a Seattle lawyer who represents West Richland, argues the Ecology Department's stance is flawed. He says the Family Farm Act was only intended to stop corporate farms from overtaking family farms and is ``silent'' on other uses. Therefore, water transfers from farms to towns shoul d be allowed, he said.
Charles Kilbury, a Pasco councilman and former state legislator, said that discussions leading up to passage of the act never included transfer of water to municipal water systems.
``There didn't seem to be any concern about water for cities,'' he said.
West Richland is prepared to appeal the Ecology Department's expected denial to a state hearing board, Wright said.
The next step would be a lawsuit, unless the Legislature steps forward to sort out the mess.
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