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DAM-L War over water in the west (fwd)
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From: Right to Water <right-to-water@iatp.org>
To: dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca
Subject: War over water in the west
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 14:50:21 -0500
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Right to Water (right-to-water@iatp.org) Posted: 05/21/2001 By svarghese@iatp.org
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5/18/2001. Farm Journal: War In The West
>From the pages of the May/June 2001 edition of Farm Journal magazine.
The adage in the water-poor West is: "Whiskey is for drinking; water is for
fighting." Water has always been a precious commodity to Pat Tucker, who
grows potatoes and sweet corn on 6,300 acres of sandy soil near Paterson,
Wash. He treasures his water rights, which allow him to nourish his crops
with water from the nearby Columbia River. The usual threat to Tucker's
water supply is environmentalists bent on reserving the water for fish
populations. But now Tucker and other Northwest farmers face a new danger.
Reservoirs in the Columbia River Basin were drained to supply California
with hydroelectric power over the winter months. Drought and deficient
snowpack mean those reservoirs are low on water. "Now, like California, we
are facing our own summer power shortage," Tucker says.
Up to 80% of the electricity in the Pacific Northwest is produced by
hydropower each year. About 6% of the annual runoff in the Columbia River
basin helps irrigate 7.6 million acres of farmland. Projected low flows for
the Columbia River trigger provisions in water rights granted to farmers
after 1980. Those
provisions, affecting about 38,000 acres, give states the option to shut
off water if flows don't meet minimum levels.
Peace offering.
To save power and to keep water in the river for hydroelectricity, the
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which supplies roughly half of the
power for utilities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and western Montana, is
paying
farmers $330/acre to idle 75,000 acres of irrigated land. Local utility
districts are also paying growers not to irrigate. A farmer accepting both
offers could receive as much as $475/acre.
Citing certain economic devastation, some members of the Columbia-Snake
River Irrigators Association say they will refuse to turn off pumps. One
farmer estimates losing even one circle of onions from lack of irrigation
would mean a loss of up to $315,000. "Paying people not to grow may be one
of the most
significant things this legislature can do this year to help agriculture in
this state," Washington State Rep. Gary Chandler said recently. If farmers
do not get help, "there will be a long line of bankruptcies." California
has long relied on Pacific Northwest suppliers for power in peak summer
months, sending back power during winter. But since California was short on
power this winter, it sent none to the Pacific Northwest. During peak times
this summer, California expects power shortfalls of up to 6,815
megawatts--more than six times the energy used by the city of Seattle
alone. "Since California appears unable to help itself, we have no
expectation that they will soon be able to help us," says Steve Hickok,
chief operating officer of BPA. With electricity prices in the Northwest 10
times higher than ever before, Hickok says BPA is taking demand-side
actions, like reducing the load from irrigation pumps.
The burden.
Farmers feel it's unfair to ask irrigators to bear the brunt of problems.
"We river pumpers are among the most efficient irrigators in the world,"
Tucker says. For example, Tucker uses center pivot sprinklers, low-pressure
heads, drop nozzles, controlled droplet size, variable-speed pumps, irrigation
scheduling, computer controls and double cropping to conserve energy and
the environment. While farm groups are calling on politicians to ensure
that farmers receive adequate water, public utilities are upping the ante
to encourage farmers to cut back on irrigation. PacifiCorp of Idaho has
increased to 15¢/kwh from 12¢/kwh the rate it will pay irrigators to
disconnect pumps.
Environmentalists oppose any change in water flows. They contend droughts
are not emergencies, as the state treats them, and that by cutting
environmental protections afforded by minimum flows, the state is "making a
choice against the environment."
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