Giant feedlot gets its water

ELTOPIA, Wash. - A proposed Franklin County feedlot has finally obtained a water right to begin construction on a facility that will house 30,000 head of cattle.

The state Ecology Department decision Thursday to approve a water transfer for the Easterday Ranches feedlot on nearly 1,000 acres left unchanged the increasingly controversial practice in which large animal feeding facilities draw unlimited amounts of water for their operations without a state permit.

It is an issue that has galvanized public interest and concern in rural Washington, where the exemption for stockwatering and rural homes has spawned rural economic development and population growth.

Easterday, whose feedlot will be in Eltopia, north of the Tri-Cities, will be able to draw a new supply of groundwater to supply drinking water for the cattle. The transferred water from a nearby farm will cover nondrinking needs like dust control, cooling and other uses.

The exemption, added to state law with the groundwater code in 1945, allows use without a permit of 5,000 gallons of water per day for a home as well as an industrial use, enough water for a half-acre garden, and for stockwatering.

No limit exists in the law for watering stock.

Prior to 1945, the state’s only limit on use of groundwater was that it be used reasonably.

The state Ecology Department, which has criticized the current stockwatering exemption as unsustainable, sought unsuccessfully to obtain legislative approval to cap the exemption.

As a fallback, lawmakers authorized funding for a work group to meet prior to the 2010 session to try to come up with a compromise.

Dairy and feedlot operators, who have opposed Ecology’s stance, will participate along with environmental groups, tribes and lawmakers.

An attorney general’s 2005 opinion supported the industry’s interpretation of the exemption.

Opponents of the current interpretation of the 64-year-old exemption, said Thursday’s decision further opens the door to industrial animal operations.

An appeal is one possible response opponents are considering, they said Thursday.

“This is an overstressed and declining resource,” said Randy Jones, a representative of longtime farmers in the area that opposed the feedlot. “It is disappointing, but not surprising for us. Ecology has been involved in expediting this transfer since Day One despite our significant concerns.”

Cody Easterday, president of Easterday Ranches, said he is pleased the water-right issue that held up the start of construction has been resolved.

The firm now plans to have cattle on the property around Jan. 1.

“This continues to prove the point this is an economically and environmentally sound project. It has been since the start,” he said.

Jay Gordon, executive director of the Washington State Dairy Federation, said he is pleased by the decision.

“It’s nice to see Ecology working to keep the Easterdays in business and allow them to grow their business and honor the stockwater exemption,” he said.

Ecology officials brought the exemption issue to a head in November, notifying Easterday he would have to obtain a water right for feedlot uses related to dust control, cooling and other uses not related to drinking water.

Keith Stoffel, an Ecology official in the water resources program in Spokane, said that stance came through in the transfer approved Thursday.

The agency, he said, continues to believe the exemption applies only to drinking water and not associated uses like dust control.

“We don’t believe those uses are part of the exemption. That is what we spoke with the Easterdays about and encouraged them to find water for the uses we don’t believe are exempt,” he said.

As a result of Thursday’s decision, the feedlot will receive 316 acre-feet of water from the transferred right from a nearby farm, including 250 acre-feet of water for dust control, cooling livestock and other uses and 66 acre-feet for water for the cattle.

The rest of the supply for drinking water — 505 acre-feet — will come in the form of a new withdrawal of groundwater.

An acre-foot of water is almost 326,000 gallons.

Daily usage of water for cattle to drink amounts to just under 20 gallons per day per cow or 500,000 gallons per day. Easterday said the drinking water amount will meet his needs.

Withdrawals will be metered and reported to Ecology.

Evan Sheffels, special assistant to Ecology Director Jay Manning for water policy, said the transfer is a good outcome.

“We were working with the Easterdays,  encouraging them to do what they are doing, which is to apply for and get a water right transfer to reduce the legal risk,” he said. “They are doing what we asked them to do. That is a good thing.”

He said the legislative work group will focus on future applications by large feeding operations, not current ones.

“During the legislative session, we made it clear our purpose is prospective. We aren’t interested in going after existing operations,” he said. “We are interested in effective, sound water management for future decisions.”

• David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.