[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
DAM-L US gov't must pay farmers for water to save endagered fish: ruling
----- Forwarded message from Right to Water -----
Return-path: <right-to-water@iatp.org>
Received: from mail.iatp.org (iatp-2.InnovSoftD.com [208.141.36.66])
by lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca (8.8.7/8.8.8) with ESMTP id EAA22087
for <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>; Tue, 8 May 2001 04:34:54 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from [208.141.36.73] by mail.iatp.org
(Netscape Messaging Server 3.62) with SMTP id 223
for <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>;
Tue, 8 May 2001 03:43:25 -0500
From: Right to Water <right-to-water@iatp.org>
To: dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca
Subject: Court: US Must Pay Farmers for Water
Date: Tue, 8 May 2001 03:53:25 -0500
X-Mailer: Allaire Cold Fusion 3.1
Message-ID: <20010508084324233.AAJ253.223@[208.141.36.73]>
Right to Water (right-to-water@iatp.org) Posted: 05/08/2001 By mritchie@iatp.org
============================================================
----------------------
Court: US Must Pay Farmers for Water
Associated Press Online - May 4, 2001
Powered by Screaming Media
PF TODAY
Today's top stories
. sp
CORCORAN, Calif., May 04, 2001 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A federal judge
has ruled that the government must pay farmers in California's arid Central
Valley for irrigation water diverted to protect endangered fish.
Growers had argued that by using water to protect chinook salmon and the
delta smelt, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine
Fisheries Service effectively took fields out of production and took money
from farmers' pockets.
On Monday, U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge John Paul Wiese ruled that
the farmers are entitled to protection under the Fifth Amendment, which
prohibits the government from taking property without paying for it.
"Under this ruling, the federal government is certainly free to take water
to protect the fish, but it must pay to do so. That's a pretty big deal for
a lot of farmers," said Dave Kranz, spokesman for the California Farm
Bureau Federation.
The ruling could have broad implications for farmers and urban water users
in the 17 Western states, where federal rules protecting wildlife are
increasingly in conflict with water allocations.
Typically, farmers pay in advance for water each year under contracts with
the government. If the contracts aren't fulfilled, farmers may or may be
reimbursed.
Farmers sued in 1998, claiming the federal government diverted $25 million
worth of water from 1992 to 1994.
Fred Starrh, a cotton farmer in Kern County, said he pays about $3 million
a year for water for his 12,000-acre ranch and welcomed Friday's ruling.
"For us as a grower it's big," Starrh said. "For the growers across the
United States it's big. If it stands, I think it could bring reasonableness
to the process. We've just been sitting here getting hammered."
Still, it is unclear just how the decision will be implemented or what kind
of water contracts will be affected. In many instances, water contracts
held by the government may be outside the scope of the lawsuit.
"Our contracts are written in a way that allows us to short our contractors
under certain circumstances. We don't believe that this filing impacts
federal contracts, but we're still reviewing it," said Jeff McCracken,
spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the largest supplier of water
in the West.
---
On the Net:
Court's opinion: http://www.law.gwu.edu/fedcl/Opinions/Wiese/01/Tulare.pdf
By KILEY RUSSELL Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
Questions? Comments? Click here. We'd like to hear from you. Your message
will be posted to our bulletin board.
© Copyright 2000 Progressive Farmer, Inc.
Mark Ritchie, President
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
2105 First Ave. South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 U.S.A.
mritchie@iatp.org www.iatp.org
www.wtowatch.org, www.farmbillwatch.org
www.gefoodalert.org, www.sustain.org/biotech
============================================================
How to Use this Mailing List
============================================================
You received this e-mail as a result of your registration on the right-to-water mailing list.
To unsubscribe, please send an email to listserv@iatp.org. In the body of the message type:
unsubscribe right-to-water
For a list of other commands and list options, please send email to listserv@iatp.org.
In the body of the message type:
help
Please direct content questions about this list to: mritchie@iatp.org
Please direct technical questions about this service to: support@iatp.org
----- End of forwarded message from Right to Water -----