Government

So yesterday we had a visit of a Department of Ecology official. We are in the Samish watershed, and there is a push to decrease the contamination of this watershed because of periodic closures of Samish Bay shellfish harvests and increased coliform levels in its rivers and streams. It is all spelled out in the http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0910019.pdf

Samish Bay Watershed

Fecal Coliform Bacteria

Total Maximum Daily Load

Volume 2- TDML and Water Quality Implementation Plan

August 2009

Publication No. 90-10-019

So I read this 150 page document, and we are seemingly in compliance with all the recommendations that are in there. We have our animals fenced away from any streams, and we have gutters on our barn to collect rain water. We do not have stored manure piles. We are (what I though) was the kind of people that Skagit County would like to support. We came into this very dilapidated property and put a lot of hard work and money to fix it up. We are involved with agriculture which is what Skagit County is supposedly trying to support. We pay our taxes and stay out of trouble. So I was hoping that this visit would go well.

Naturally it did not. He waltzed in here and tells us all these government officials that can help us with developing our farm plan, help with pasture management, and improve weight gain in our animals. He told us about grant money available to comply with regulations for fencing, pipes, and engineered designs. Then he said we had to fence off our animals 35 feet from the ditch line on the road. He said we could use electric fencing, and it could be down during the grazing season but would need to be up by August 15th. August 15th!!! That is the driest day of the year. And electric net fencing is not safe in my opinion for horned animals. I lost my first Shetland ram Loki to an electric net fence. He then pointed out that we had dug a trench in one of our 7 fields which drained into the ditch from a pasture where animals are (three small sheep). But we said we could fill in this trench and keep the animals out of this pasture once breeding season is over next week.

At his point I pointed to what I think is our real water pollution issue- the drainage from the development behind our property that floods our fields when there are heavy downpours. We believe this drainage through a culvert onto our property to be illegal because we have the original survey showing no culvert, the ditches designed for the drainage, and that all drainage from the development must be contained in them. There is not a drainage easement for our property, and this is not a natural waterway but a man-made one. We have tried to talk to the homeowners association, but the president does not return our calls. We have even talked to a land-use attorney about this. Well, this Department of Ecology official said he cannot regulate "clean" water drainage, but he does have authority over erosion. The culvert goes out from the road above our place at least 10 feet and free falls down onto our land causing a lot of erosion. The bottom of this culvert is also rotted out so some of the water runs under the culvert undermining it and the road. So this government official started talking about putting a wall on our property to control the erosion! Not the solution I was looking for.

The culvert on our property with water running through it

The "clean" water running out of the culvert

So I do not want a farm plan, I do not want government officials on our land, and I do not want their money. I also do not want to pollute Samish Bay, nor do I want to break the law. So we will put up the electric fencing (although I may not turn it on), fill in our trench and move our rams to the back far field (where it is a lot harder to care for and protect them). And I really hope this is adequate. Because if this official states that we have to put in 50 foot buffers all around our property we are done for. And that will be the end of Schoonover Farm. (and why I am up at 3 AM).