Matthew Weaver
Capital Press
Washington State Department of Agriculture director Derek Sandison spoke at the Cattle Producers of Washington annual meeting Oct. 30 in Airway Heights, Wash.
AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — A vanishing water supply is one of the industry’s biggest concerns moving forward, Washington State Department of Agriculture Director Derek Sandison told the Cattle Producers of Washington at their annual meeting.
The state saw short-term shortages due to drought the last two years, and likely will face drought conditions next year, Sandison said.
Past successful efforts to get roughly 290,000 acre-feet of new water rights for irrigated agriculture in Eastern Washington were a big deal, but “it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what our long-term needs are going to be,” Sandison said.
The department was not a big player in water in the past, but will have to be more of an advocate for a new water supply, said Sandison, who is former director of the Washington Department of Ecology’s Office of the Columbia River.
Sandison cited concerns about increasing population projections for the state.
“We’ll continue to have a squeeze on land available for cattle and agriculture production,” he said. “It’s going to take constant attention to protecting the interest of ag when it comes to land-use decisions.”
Sandison fielded questions from CPOW members following his Oct. 30 presentation.
Hunters, Wash., sheep rancher Dave Dashiell asked whether Sandison has any influence on the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding wolves. CPOW withdrew from the department’s wolf advisory committee in October.
“It’s being managed politically, not by facts or science or anything else,” Dashiell said.
Sandison said the department is walking a tightrope between ranchers and the part of the population that would react negatively to “a harsh approach” to wolves.
Laurier, Wash., rancher Len McIrvin told Sandison he was in a position to represent agriculture, not to be “politically correct” for residents on the western side of the state.
Valleyford, Wash., rancher Willard Wolf asked Sandison if citizen lawsuits are now the best way to get anything done.
“The only thing that the state agencies and various people understand or respect is if somebody files a lawsuit against them,” he said. “Is that what we’re going to have to do as livestock people, as farmers, as individuals, when it comes to protecting our streams?”
Sandison said citizen lawsuits are becoming a tool used by some organizations to get through the court what they can’t through the legislature or Congress.
“It’s not my way of doing business or my approach to solving problems to either wait for a lawsuit or run away from a problem because of a lawsuit,” Sandison said. “We never backed down from a fight when we either were threatened with suits or actually were being sued.”