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Important
Fundraiser Barbeque planned to Protect Water
Rights - DOE charges "pollution"
violation for diverting water to irrigation August
15, 2002 Okanogan
County Farm Bureau, Methow Valley Irrigation
District and Washington Agriculture Legal
Foundation have joined together to host a
fundraiser barbeque to strongly oppose a new
tactic by the Washington State Department of
Ecology to restrict legal water rights. The
Department of Ecology issued the Methow Valley
Irrigation District a Notice of Violation Order
in April that disregarded historic water rights
and ordered the District to reduce the amount of
water diverted. The Violation Order was based on
a bizarre claim that water diversion equals
“pollution.” MVID has appealed the Order. “If
Ecology’s outrageous concept is not
challenged, all water use in this state,
including wells, is at risk,” said Joel Kretz,
Okanogan County Farm Bureau President.
“They’re after your water folks.” A
legal analysis prepared by the law firm of
Perkins Coie identifies several strong
challenges to this unprecedented interpretation
of the law and notes that regulating water
rights to achieve water quality standards could
jeopardize thousands of water rights across the
state. A
barbeque is planned to help raise funds for a
legal defense in the District’s struggle to
protect water rights. Join us on Saturday,
August 24th at 3:00 PM
at the Twisp City Park in Twisp, WA
for guest speakers, great food, entertainment
and fun. Learn how all water users in the state
would be impacted if Ecology is not challenged.
Don’t miss this opportunity to stand up and be
counted--together we can make a difference. Washington
Agriculture Legal Foundation has created a Legal
Defense Fund with a special account to accept
contributions on behalf of the irrigators.
Donations may be sent to WALF, c/o Washington
Farm Bureau, P.O. Box 2009, Olympia, WA 98507. Contact
Darlene Hajny, Public Relations/Information at
(509) 422-4703 or Joel Kretz, President at (509)
779-4105 for further information. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml]
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