Okanogan County sues federal government over water issues

                 By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
                 The Associated Press
            

SPOKANE (AP) 6/19/01 -- Okanogan County and some of its  farmers sued the federal government on Tuesday over Endangered Species Act restrictions that they say favor fish over farmers.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Spokane, contends several federal agencies are illegally using the ESA to cut off irrigation water from the Methow River.

"The Methow Valley is being singled out to test a flawed policy that clearly violates federal law," said Craig Vejraska, an Okanogan County commissioner.

Officials for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment. Agency spokesman Brian Gorman has said that fish and farmers tend to need water at the same time, and that balancing needs becomes difficult in low water years.

The lawsuit contends that water rights are state, not federal, matters, and that blocking irrigation based on low stream flows is unconstitutional, said Don Anderson, a lawyer for Okanogan County.

The NMFS is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, as are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service.

The issue is particularly timely this year because drought conditions have severely reduced river flows in Eastern Washington, and many farmers are facing huge losses.

The lawsuit comes after more than two years of negotiations with the fisheries agency over how much water must be left in streams to accommodate salmon and steelhead species that are threatened or endangered, Vejraska said.

The federal government contends that farmers cannot irrigate out of the Methow River if water flows fall below what they were 100 years ago, when people first started drawing water from the river. The plaintiffs contend that requirement would prevent them from using irrigation water for five out of every 10 years.

"I lost crops last year to federal target flow conditions
and I will again this year," said Ron VanderYacht, a Methow Valley farmer who is one of the plaintiffs. "Who will pay for this?"

The Forest Service in 1999 suspended the federal permits of Methow River irrigators in order to meet target flows imposed by NMFS and Fish and Wildlife.

Steve Devin, president of the Early Winters Ditch Co., an irrigation cooperative, said the lawsuit does not challenge the fact that farmers must comply with the Endangered Species Act.

"This lawsuit is about unchecked and illegal federal control over our water rights," Devin said.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for landowners who are denied water rights because of the Endangered Species Act.

In February, the coalition of county officials, farmers and ranchers filed a notice giving the government 60 days to negotiate an acceptable water policy.

The plaintiffs contend the fisheries agency chose Okanogan County to test a theory that the Endangered Species Act has precedence over state water rights and the state's water resource management.

The fisheries agency has sought to force several Methow Valley irrigation districts to switch from old, unlined and leaking canals to pressurized pipeline systems in order to make more water available for fish.
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