It’s about cooperation
Friday, March 11, 2005
Nowhere else has water been a more precious, and fought
over, resource than in the American West.
Arid regions have become fertile, and populations have boomed and taken over
areas that were once rich farmland. As pressure grew to supply urban areas
with water for people, but also to protect endangered plants, animals and fish
species in the West that also depend on the water, farmers and ranchers have
felt even more squeezed.
Unfortunately, this has now become a time when litigation and courts have more
frequently decided the fate of farmers. Many farm organizations, government
agencies and even individuals admit a great deal of their resources are now
spent preparing for or fighting litigation rather than concentrating on their
still critical priorities.
In the Pacific Northwest, California and neighboring states, tough decisions
will need to be made regarding how to share a dwindling resource. Drought,
different interests demanding rights, urban growth pressure, the Endangered
Species Act, environmental awareness, economics and many other factors impact
the fate of water.
However, farmers and ranchers need to be acknowledged and praised for the
steps they have taken to be more efficient and reduce the amount the water
they use, share what they have, and in some cases work with normally opposing
interests to resolve the situations that face them. This is not easy, but
often is a slow and arduous process.
There are certain areas in the West that gained attention for their water
battles or for the ways they are dealing with the challenges that face them.
The example of what must not be repeated: What happened to the Klamath Falls
area in 2001 when, in the midst of a drought, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
decided because of the Endangered Species Act that water should go to three
fish species instead of farmers.
Farmers had just planted and helplessly watched as their crops withered and
died; many families and businesses in the community lost their livelihoods.
To the credit of federal and state officials, they are next week visiting the
Klamath Basin to meet with the people affected by water decisions made,
especially in times of drought. They appear to want to cooperate and
collaborate to find a solution that will hopefully never impact agriculture as
severely as it was in 2001.
In Idaho, the current proposed Nez Perce Agreement is closely watched for how
it involved so many interests and could protect Idaho from the Endangered
Species Act for a minimum of 30 years.
And in California, an eye is being kept on the Metropolitan Water District
that involves 26 cities and water districts that have bought or are
negotiating to buy water for almost 18 million people in Southern California.
Washington state has farmers in the Bertrand Creed watershed doing a pilot
project to use more underground sources of water so fish have more surface
water.
In some cases, Indian tribes have been some of the farmers’ opponents when
it comes to fighting for water, while in other cases they work cooperatively
with farmers to develop the best plans for the future.
Bob Kelly, director of Natural Resources for the Nooksack Indian Tribe,
explained why it is valuable to cooperate. “We need farmland to stay in
farming. If a 200-acre farm goes out, we could end up with 200 homes there,
and those homes will use more water. It’s in our best interest to support
farmers as well as the needs of fish.”
The governor of Idaho, Dirk Kempthorne, warned that if water issues such as
the Snake River Basin Adjudication aren’t resolved through the cooperation
of various players and ratification later by government, the issues will wind
through the courts for years.
“What year will that come down? How many millions of dollars later, and how
many bank loans may not be loaned because of the uncertainty?” he told farm
groups recently at the Idaho Ag Summit in Boise.
That is why it is so critical to find solutions to what is happening with
water in the West.
Banks and businesses want certainty that agriculture will continue to exist
and prosper.
Farmers and ranchers want certainty that the next generation will have the
precious water needed to grow the next crop, raise the next batch of calves
born, and nurture the hundreds of commodities produced in the West that make
this area so valuable agriculturally to the rest of the country and to the
world.
Now is the time for all the players to work toward solutions and ensuring
water is guaranteed to meet agricultural needs for the future.
