Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Water Leasing

It has seemed strange to me for a long time that the Borrego Water District (BWD) has never really tried to sit down and meet with local farmers in an effort to address concerns about the sustainability of Borrego’s aquifer. Wouldn’t that be the very first thing you would do if you wanted to be taken seriously as an effective conservation-oriented agency?

Instead, of any attempt at dialogue, there has been a steady stream of invective from the BWD and a handful of disgruntled “activists” who claim to know what’s right for everybody. At a public meeting a month or so ago, a BWD board member went completely over the top and compared local farmers to crack dealers. I hope that’s not the kind of careful analysis and consensus building for which the community elected this person.

The point is this. The Borrego Water District is currently pursuing a plan to strong arm local farmers into taking “water credits” in exchange for giving up their water rights. This plan is economically and practically infeasible. It will enable development and sprawl, not water conservation. It also locks up Borrego’s excellent agricultural land by creating permanent legal impediments to farming at a time when most experts agree the nation and the world face a growing food crisis. It’s a bad idea.

Instead of all that, why doesn’t the BWD just lease water from farmers? Leased water could be retained in the aquifer and farm land would be fallowed. In another ad elsewhere in this issue of the Sun, I lay out what a leasing plan like that could look like.

It’s time the BWD actually starts trying to communicate in good faith with farmers. That’s how healthy communities address their challenges. Water transfers like the leasing plan I mention here are not new. They are used all over the west. They can work.

I encourage you to ask the BWD why it isn’t pursuing all creative options in addressing concerns about Borrego’s water.

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