Photo by Beth Ruhl.
Fight For Water Rights May Put Damper on Local Food
Local farmers in the Kaw Valley are on watch. Armed with cameras and ready to document, they are waiting for the first truck to drive straight through Thomas Meisse's ripe cornfield to dig a test well, which will mark the beginning of a statewide supreme court battle over eminent domain laws as they apply to water rights.
The whole sale water district, which is comprised of Osage county Rural Water District No. 5 and Douglas County Rural Water Districts No. 2 and 5, is claiming its eminent domain right to pump groundwater to the citizens in its district from land that is used by local farms. However, local farmers are concerned this kind of water usage will stop their farms from expanding and extremely limit their ability to produce local horticulture.
"It will stop local food production," said Carey Pendleton, co-owner or Pendleton's Country Market. She stressed the impact it would have on horticulture, which makes up a majority of their sales, as well as that of neighboring farms.
"Horticulture is a difficult endeavor. We need the water to mediate the challenges of the weather." said John Pendleton, the other co-owner of Pendleton's Country Market. Local horticultural products include most fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, flowers and trees.
John Pendleton, co-owner of Pendleton's Country Market, shows off some of his local horticultural products which are corn and tomatoes. (Photo by Beth Ruhl.)
"Eminent domain law should be used only as a last resort." said John Pendleton. "Water could be purchased more cheaply by the city of Lawrence than what it would take to set up a whole new groundwater pumping system here."
Local vintner and owner of Davenport Orchards and Winery Greg Shipe stressed the importance of how new water law standards would effect the growth of local farms. "There won't be any new local foods. We can't raise crops with out water." said Shipe. He and others are concerned about how the permanent loss of access to water would shut down all future growth of horticulture in the Kaw Valley area.
Local horticultural products like these grapes at Davenport Orchards and Winery will be affected if new water law standards are passed in Douglas County. (Photo by Beth Ruhl.)
"We are documenting this every step of the way." said John Pendleton. He said the damage caused by the test wells could be compared to something that could be fixed with a band aide, but he was more concerned about the permanent affects of local farmers having limited water rights. "We have a much stronger case of getting a court injunction against a permanent well being dug than with that of a test well."
Many of the farmers who would be affected by the new water statutes are on a mission to educate the public as well as policy makers about the complexities of water law. "Lots of legislatures are not familiar with water law," said Shipe who is working with his lawyer Burke Griggs on the Supreme Court case which will come to pass sometime during the early fall.
John Pendleton is more concerned with bringing the issue home to local residents. "Kaw Valley is also very ignorant of water law and how it will affect their farms." said Pendleton. He stressed how this decision would be affecting generations of farmers to come. "It really affects all people who want to enjoy local food."
Shipe worries that such an impact on local food would affect the local economy. "Nowadays it certainly costs more to have a horticultural item shipped in from South America than it does to get it from a local farm here in Lawrence." said Shippe.
"You want to know where your food is coming from now with all of these e.coli and salmonella outbreaks," said Pendleton. He said some of the national producers of items such as spinach are so widely distributed that if even one plant is contaminated, lots of people could become ill.
"People come to my farm and they say, wow, I've never tasted anything like that before," said Shipe. "Ultimately, when it comes down to it, local food is fresher, more nutritious and better tasting."
Click on image for map of local rural water districts. (Image courtesy of http://www.douglascounty.com)