Country Life Special Section • Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Government
County Council chair wants Water Action Plan Weimer: Pull together diverse areas of concern By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
WHATCOM — Carl Weimer, chair of a retooled Whatcom County Council, is trying a fresh run at resolving pressing county water issues. He is asking the various stakeholders, including agriculture, to say what can be done by the county using limited dollars for greatest effectiveness. At the Feb. 11 County Council meeting, Weimer hoped to start a discussion on creating a 2014 Water Action Plan. That coordinated plan, in turn, would shape the spending priorities of the county’s 2015-16 budget. Weimer has put his ideas into a proposed resolution that he expects will be revamped by others. Possibly a plan can be passed by the council on Feb. 25, he said. Although he has had ideas in mind for some time, he gained impetus to pull them together from the wellattended Farm Water Meeting held Jan. 20 at the Mt. Baker Rotary Building in Lynden, Weimer said. “I found that (to be) one of the best and most informative water meetings I have attended in the last 15 years,” Weimer said in an email. “It appeared to me that there was now an opportunity for movement on some of these critical water issues.” Weimer, beginning his third term on the County Council, identifies these five areas to be addressed: • bacterial pollution affecting shellfish growing areas. • water quantity and
Tom Thornton speaks as a member of the Ag District Coalition organizing board at the Farm Water Meeting in Lynden Jan. 20. The purpose was to raise various farm water issues. From right are: Ed Blok, Marty Maberry, Thornton, Scott Bedlington, Greg Ebe, Rod VandeHoef, Adam Enfield and Randy Honcoop. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune) availability issues. • Lake Whatcom water quality. • habitat issues. • stormwater issues outside of Lake Whatcom. In his draft resolution, he lists more specific interests within each of those general areas and also the entities that could provide the most helpful input. For instance, on water quantity and availability, he hopes for the participation of Whatcom Farm Friends, the
Council aims to tighten up restrictions on ag zone WHATCOM — Also on the Feb. 11 County Council agenda was an effort to tighten up how livestock slaughterhouses are allowed in the Agriculture zone. A public hearing was held on this topic. A proposed interim ordinance would require all meat packinghouse applications to be processed as a conditional use. That would put them through a public hearing process
county’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, the Bertrand and North Lynden Watershed Improvement Districts, the state Department of Ecology, and the WRIA 1 (Nooksack River watershed) planning participants. Weimer sees opportunity in the convergence of several developments: a report soon to be released by the state Department of Ecology on phosphorus and bacterial pollution in Lake Whatcom; a state Growth Management Hear-
ings Board’s concern about water quality and quantity protection in rural Whatcom County, on county appeal; and renewal of the WRIA Planning Unit process. Separately, County Executive Jack Louws has said that he considers water issues as a whole to be his most difficult challenge. Over the years, there have been plans and efforts in some of these areas. In fact, various advisory committees
and programs have generated well over 300 recommended projects “which we have made precious little progress on,” Weimer said. Whatcom Farm Friends is generally on board wanting to see attention to water issues, said executive director Henry Bierlink. But drainage and flood management issues do not seem to be addressed adequately in the draft action plan, he said.
and review by a county hearing examiner before gaining approval, in contrast to outright alloweance in the zone. The County Council passed the current law allowing slaughterhouses last September on a 4-3 vote, after about two years of contention. Two members of that council were voted out in the November election. Farmers say there is not adequate allowance, nor enough facilities, for livestock slaughter in a county that has thousands of dairy and beef cattle as well as sheep, goats and hogs.
Government
Rep. Buys shepherding water rights-related bills
By Tim Newcomb tim@lyndentribune.com
OLYMPIA — As Rep. Vincent Buys points out, water law is complicated. But he says a bill aimed at helping Whatcom County berry farmers retain water rights should help iron out some tricky rules, as a process that has support from local municipalities, Whatcom County and the state’s Department of Ecology. Buys, a Lynden Republican, said his goal is to shepherd a bill through the Washington State House of Representatives. “It is too big of an issue to not keep pursuing,” he said. Sen. Doug Ericksen, also of the 42nd District, was able to get a bill passed in the Republican-led Senate that will, in essence, ensure local farmers don’t lose out on water
Government
Ag Advisory Committee is in Lynden tonight A variety of the group’s goals to be presented
Slaughterhouse issue back on council agenda
Berry farmers want credit for their water conservation
Farm Bill • CL2 Gardening • CL3 FFA • CL4
rights because of past conservation efforts. That’s because of a “use it or lose it” approach on water rights, not encouraging conservation of water. Ericksen’s bill now heads to the House, where Buys was already working to get his own version, with the exact same language, out of an appropriations subcommittee. “It doesn’t really matter (which bill),” Buys said about pushing the effort, “as long as one of the bills goes through.” The House is led by Democrats. These bills hope to clear up part of a nearly 30-year Ecology issue, Buys said. In the 1980s local farmers switched to drip irrigation to water crops, a method that conserves water better. But under complex water law, farmers risked forfeiting their water rights on the unused portion of water. To keep those rights, farmers applied to transfer water rights to other properties. Due to a tricky process, made more complicated by the state’s “annual consumptive quantity” rulings, those applications have sat idle
ever since. “Ecology is asking for this because they are trying to figure out a way to get transfers on the books completed after 30 years,” Buys said. “They want to get applications out the door and get the issue solved once and for all.” The Ericksen and Buys bills would, in reality, roll water rights back to the 1980s levels and allow Ecology to properly transfer rights. The bill narrows the effort to the Nooksack River water basin, specifically 19 different farms within Whatcom County. Buys said letters of support for the bill have come from the city of Lynden, Whatcom County, Ecology and others. State environmental groups and tribes remain neutral. Whether the Buys bill makes it out of committee this week or not, the representative will work to get one of the bills to a full House vote. Ericksen’s bill passed the Senate on a vote of 38-8. The full effort has been tried in the Legislature before, but fallen short.
Corner of the Guide and Main Lynden • (360) 354-2186 Store Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00AM-5:00PM, Saturday, 8AM-1PM
LYNDEN — The county’s Agricultural Advisory Committee is changing things up a bit. It will have an evening meeting in Lynden tonight. This meeting is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, in the Lynden Community Center, 401 Grover St. The 13-member group usually meets afternoons at county Planning & Development Services on Northwest Road. County PDS staff will do brief presentations on the history and purpose of the Agricultural Advisory Committee, and also on the county’s Agricultural Strategic Plan and the specific agricultural protection priorities listed within it. There will also be an update on the county’s appeal of the Growth Management Hearings Board June decision on water resources and an explanation of the Ag District Coalition effort. The public can speak on agriculture issues at 8 p.m. Staff updates and reports include: the PDR program, agricultural small-lot changes and the Comprehensive Plan update.