Page 18 - WCA September Ketch Pen 2020

18
WATER AND ECOLOGY UPDATE
By Toni Meacham, Attorney at Law
In 2014, after a long-fought water law case which went all the way to the Washington Supreme Court, agriculture and the Department of Ecology decided to start the Ag and Water Quality Advisory Committee (AWCAC). I have sat on the committee since its incep- tion in 2014. Then DOE Director Maia Bellon, along with WCA’s very own Vic Stokes, chaired the commit- tee and had a very dedicated, large group of ag and enviros who sat at the table, rolled up their sleeves and worked through issues to find solutions. It wasn’t easy, but we made progress and found common ground where we could. Through that process we opened the door to communication, helped draft documents to bring assurance to what DOE was looking for re- garding water quality and helped change how DOE interacts with stakeholders. Fast forward to July 22, 2020, which was the first Ag and Water Quality Advi- sory Committee meeting under the new regime led by Laura Watson. In the face of the covid pandemic, the meeting was a virtual one, and didn’t include as many ag industry leaders as one would like. Jack Field and
I were the only two participants on the call from the
ag side, who have participated in these meetings since 2014. I can tell you the meeting was a touch frustrat- ing. Some of the meeting, and lack of understanding of what we have accomplished since 2014, I will attribute to not being there. The problem is that we have been doing work since 2014 with this group, people that want to join now should educate themselves on that work and help the group continue to move forward, not pull it backwards, which is what is happening. There was a presentation by Karen DuBose, Skagit County. and Erika Douglas, Whatcom County on the Pollution Identification and Correction (PIC) in the North Sound: Successes and Challenges. This presen- tation focused on ag being the biggest contributor to pollution. Not leaky septic tanks, not non-ag uses, just focused on ag. No science was used to come to these conclusions. We heard nothing regarding education and experience that would lead to an informed con- clusion regarding the source of pollution, just that ag
is the culprit. Since 2014, we have fought this unedu- cated, non-science based conclusory type bias which prevails over environmental action. Ag seems to be the easy target, so that is what they go after. Because of this type of bias, in 2015, with the help of Tip Hudson, of WSU, the AWQAC helped the DOE publish the Clean
Water and Livestock
Operations: Assess-
ing Risks to Water
Quality. This publi-
cation was the result
of countless hours of
work from all sides
of the AWQAC and
yielded a document
that provided a path
forward on water
quality issues, as well
as transparency and the ability of landowners to assess their management practices before being notified by DOE. This document was not referenced in the PIC presentation. It is unclear if this document is being used at all. This is just one example of how the work that has gone into the AWQAC is now being ignored.
In response to this meeting, the first thing that I did was to send Heather Bartlett an email requesting that the next meeting allow for a presentation on what has been done by ag to improve water quality on a volunteer basis. Many landowners have taken volun- tary action, without any intervention from DOE, and those types of actions should be recognized. Painting ag as the sole issue is just false. And it does not bring any solutions to the table. The email concluded with a request that all programs be kept voluntary and incen- tive based.
The next step was a joint letter from the WCA and the Cattle Feeders to Director Watson regarding use of the 2015 document. This letter also requested infor- mation regarding the current water quality cases that DOE is working on. We have not received a response to this letter at this time.
Toni Meacham
Ketch Pen www.washingtoncattlemen.org
September 2020