Farm facing ‘unprecedented’ $267,000 penalties from Ecology Department

Cascadia Daily News

The Skagit Valley Farm, a system of farm LLCs owned and operated by several farmers in the region, plans to fight a $267,000 penalty for violating water rights during last summer’s drought.

The company, which operates on over 3,000 acres in Skagit County, irrigated around 348 acres of vegetable crops in the lower Skagit and Samish watersheds without water rights, according to documents obtained from the state Department of Ecology.

Eight farms in the Skagit Valley Farm group will face penalties ranging from $6,000 to $62,000.

The size of the total fine was unusual.

The Department of Ecology identified more than 300 unpermitted acres of irrigation at the Skagit Valley Farms throughout 2021’s drought.

“Big water rights violations [like this] aren’t typical,” explained Jimmy Norris, Ecology’s communications manager for the water resources program. “Typically, what happens is when the program notices that there is unpermitted water use, they receive a technical assistance letter that tells them what’s the violation; why they’re in violation; where it is. Most of the time, they work with us to come into compliance.”

Ecology initially responded to a complaint about irrigation on a large Skagit county property where none previously occurred.

Investigators discovered that the noncompliance issues were much larger than the original complaint identified. Site visits in July and August revealed 348 acres of potatoes, brassica and Brussels sprouts actively being irrigated or with damp soils, despite the lack of water rights attached to the parcels.

When Ecology attempted to contact the farm with noncompliance letters and requests for meetings – twice in July and twice in August – owners Don Carlin, Laura Swift, Tony Wisdom and Tom McDonald did not respond, Ecology officials said. In September, owners met with Ecology representatives, but “did not indicate that they had altered operations for the sites … or created a plan to comply with state law,” according to Ecology’s penalty docket.

Currently, the farm is working to come into compliance, seeking additional water rights so they can properly irrigate this summer.

“[This fine] is especially troubling since we have been working with them over the last several months, and according to their timeline, to fix the issues that they identified,” Wisdom said in a statement to Cascadia Daily. “We are very troubled and surprised that Ecology has chosen to suddenly issue the notice of violation and this extreme and unprecedented fine against our farm.”

The penalties the farm faced could have been much higher, according to Ecology documents, which found 150 separate daily violations, at $4,000 per violation, for a total potential fine of $600,000.

The Department of Ecology identified 150 separate daily violations, at $4,000 per violation, resulting in a penalty of $600,000. Ecology opted to reduce the fine for the smaller farms operating under Skagit Valley Farms.

Water rights, the legal process through which access to water is guaranteed in the state, can be complicated and has been historically controversial. In Skagit county, water rights are particularly fraught, especially during one of the driest water years on record last summer.

Ria Berns, the northwest regional manager for Ecology’s water resources program, says water is already in short supply in the Skagit, where residents can’t even get permits for domestic wells on their properties.

“That’s the backdrop for this fairly egregious violation,” she said. “Water is scarce.”

Summer water flows in the Skagit have been decreasing for decades, leaving less water available for salmon and other uses.

Wisdom says Ecology is punishing the farm for violations from several years ago, though Berns says the fine is specifically for last summer’s violations.

“We will appeal this decision to encourage the agency to follow the law and its own rules, which we contend that they have not done,” Wisdom said. “The Department implies that our actions purposefully harmed other farmers and fish. This is not the case, and not provable.”

When asked for clarification, Wisdom said he could provide no further information about timelines or broken laws per the appeal process.

Groups like the Whatcom-based Save Family Farming organization have long advocated reexamining the approach to water access.

“It’s always as clear as mud,” said Dillon Honcoop, Save Family Farming’s communications director. “And sadly, fining a farm in Skagit County is not going to save any fish.”

Honcoop questioned Ecology’s motives in issuing the fine almost a year after the initial investigations.

“Was this truly to protect the environment, or was it a ‘gotcha!’ move by folks with an agenda in a state agency?” he asked. “It begs the question: what’s really going on, right? Because if you’re really wanting to protect fish and you were concerned about water withdrawals, harming stream flows and fish habitat, why didn’t they say something right away?”

Ecology attempted to contact the farm several times without acknowledgment following the initial July 14 notice, and says the facts are indisputable.

“A water right is attached to a particular water source, and in this case, they did not have a water right,” Norris said.