December 2008

U.S. Water News Online

YAKIMA, Wash. — The state Department of Ecology is asking lawmakers to clarify whether a 1945 law allows large livestock operations to draw water from wells for which a water right or permit is not required.

Under the law, a well may be drilled without a permit as long as water usage is limited to 5,000 gallons per day. Uses are limited to livestock watering, small industrial uses, domestic use or noncommercial watering of a small lawn or garden.

In 2005, Attorney General Rob McKenna issued an opinion that barred the state from limiting the amount of water that ranchers draw daily for their livestock.

Now one of the largest feedlot operators in the Northwest, with 30,000 cattle near Pasco, has proposed building a similar feedlot on empty land near Eltopia, a tiny town east of the Hanford nuclear reservation.

Ecology officials already ruled that Easterday Ranches Inc. might only use the exempt well for watering cattle, not for other purposes, such as dust control or misting to cool the cattle in hot summer months.

Several agricultural groups, including the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association and Washington dairy groups and cattlemen, have disagreed with that decision.

In a letter to lawmakers, Ecology Director Jay Manning encouraged the Legislature to weigh in on the issue.

“Effective water management requires clarity, and we sincerely hope the Legislature will provide such clarity on this issue in the coming session, so we can effectively manage Washington's water for a strong economy and a healthy environment,” Manning wrote.

Easterday has estimated the proposed feedlot's water usage at 433,183 gallons per day, give or take some depending on the time of year. Ecology officials counter that standard dust control measures alone could require four times that amount of water.

Easterday, a fourth-generation farmer, did not return telephone calls Friday seeking comment. He has said he will push forward with plans to use the well not only for stock watering, but also for misting, dust control and other uses.

Manning, meanwhile, says Ecology officials do not oppose the Easterday project, provided it obtains and complies with necessary permits. The agency also will aid Easterday with finding a water right to purchase for the additional uses, if the feedlot chooses to search for one.

But the Easterday proposal serves as an excellent example of Ecology's concerns - a proposal to use an unlimited quantity of water for a wide array of uses without examining the potential impact to senior water rights, stream flows or aquifer levels, Manning said.

“This exceeds what we believe is authorized by the stockwater exemption and we would simply not be doing our job if we ignored this proposal,” he wrote.