Capital Press: Lawyers advise farmers and ranchers

October 6, 2006

No one wants to need a lawyer, but at some point almost everyone will.

That's true of farmers and ranchers, too. And like many professions, there are specialties within the broad category of agriculture law, like finances, water, wills, contracts and land use.

One of the most complex and contentious disciplines is water law.

Laura Schroeder's six-attorney law firm specializes in water law. The firm is based in the Hollywood district of Portland and represents clients in Washington state, Idaho and Nevada, including many irrigation districts.

There's a new and popular practice that some ranchers have adopted to deal with the many state and federal water regulations, Schroeder says. "Many individuals have formed their own irrigation districts. There are transfers of water you can do as a district that you can't as an individual."

In addition to Western water law, she also has expertise in international water law and will be going to Armenia this winter to help the country write water regulations. In Nevada, her firm does a lot of water sales transactions.

This is a multi-generational law practice, she says, since many aspects of water court cases drag on for decades. "Water lawyers are appurtenant to the ground, as they say in Colorado," she quips.

For example, she's involved with water right adjudications on the Klamath and other rivers. Schroeder's dad started the adjudication process and she thinks her daughter, who is attending law school, may continue it.

One reason for the interminable delay in the Klamath case is that everyone who wants water gets to have a hearing.

"Then, the Oregon Water Resources Department will take the results of the hearings and compile that into one document, which will go to a court" for a decision. Any court decisions are likely to be appealed.

One case that may conclude within her lifetime is her work with Bureau of Indian Affairs in working out agreements to remove the Chiloquin dam, which was built in about 1912 on the Klamath River.

The Modoc Point Irrigation District is her client and is in the midst of an election to decide whether to remove the dam. The result is not a foregone conclusion.

"Last year, they took a straw vote and it only passed by eight votes," Schroeder says.

"It's exciting when someone wants to take out a dam for endangered species," she says. For irrigation water, "they'll do what Grants Pass proposed to do - replace the dam with pump stations and pump from the Sprague River."

These pumping stations have not been an available and affordable technology, but the BIA is getting funding from Congress to install them.

All the irrigation district will have to do is pay for administrative costs, primarily hiring a new manager. Until now, the district has operated without a manager. The fund will be set up like a trust fund and will be large enough that the interest earned will be enough to pay for the pumping and manager's salary.

Another lawyer specializing in agriculture law is Ken Dobson, whose firm also has a narrow focus as a litigation firm. Clients call on him when disputes arise, like rights to well water or boundary disputes. He does work for farmers as well as rural residents.

"It's very common in rural areas in Oregon for several families or lots to share a common well," he says. "There could be a change of use from strictly residential, then maybe someone begins to water their orchard."

He also works with pesticide cases. If a landowner believes he has been harmed by a misapplication of pesticides, the Dobson firm brings in experts to evaluate the cause and later asks them to testify.

Investigators check to see that pesticides, which are subject to extensive state and federal regulations, have been used and stored properly. Storage is very important, Dobson says. He teaches continuing legal education courses on this subject alone.

For other sub-specialties within the ag section of the Oregon State Bar, he recommends visiting the bar's website: www.osbar.org/sections/agriculture .

As with most lawyers, Dobson has some great stories about his cases.

For example, right now he's got a case against someone posing as a farmer. Dobson represents the neighbor, who is a rural landowner outside of Sandy, Ore. The pretend farmer actually cleans out septic tanks and plans to dump the waste on the land next door to Dobson's client's property.

"He's claiming it's a farm activity," Dobson says. "We're saying the alleged farm use is a sham to cover up waste disposal. This gets down to the definition of what is a farm use. The land is zoned timber, but farm use is an acceptable practice in a timber zone."

The neighbor says he's going to grow some trees there, but he is actually just finding a way to get rid of waste, Dobson thinks. He used to take the waste to Eastern Oregon, but that became too expensive.