Government Cuts Off Water Use: Farmer Faces Shut Down

Think you can just use the water you find in nature?

You think you can enjoy God’s creation that He gave to us for free?

Think again!

Our government has once again flexed its muscle, reminding We The People that we aren’t truly free…yet.

You need to pay your penance to the King in the form of taxes, fees, and licenses if you want to do just about anything in this country.

And that includes using the water from a well on your own land.

But rainwater is allowed…”for now, slave!”

Turns Out The Government Isn’t Just After Raw Milk. Farmer Says Oregon Is “Going After Small Farmers Selling Food To Their Neighbors”

Women operating farm for 7 years gets notice she can no longer operate without a water right: “Permitting processes to use your own well water”… pic.twitter.com/COu3wpklmW

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) March 22, 2024

Transcript from video:

“In the state of Oregon, if you are using water, even groundwater, the only water that you can legally harvest and use without a permit is actually rainwater. — Even if you have a private well on your property, that belongs to the people of Oregon, not you. So, um, what they’ve said is basically if you’re using it for commercial purposes, you have to have a permit.

“So under this this rule, there’s an exemption for commercial and industrial use for up to 5,000 gallons per day. Okay. So these gardeners with a half acre of land are probably using a 1000 gallons of water a day, not even a 1000 gallons of water a day. You would think that they’re saying you’re a commercial business because if you are growing food for yourself, they still allow you to utilize, you know water from your well to grow a half acre garden up to a half acre garden.

There’s a limit on that, but this is a the story I read was about a a half acre market garden where the lady has been growing food and selling it to neighbors. It’s been her primary income source, and, um, they shut her down. Christina Del Campo has just over a half acre. She grows blueberries, local vegetables, things like that. Her farm is called Oak Song Farm near Eugene. She’s operated there for 7 years, and she recently received a letter from the regional office of the Oregon water resources department. It was a notification that the farm couldn’t irrigate its commercial crops without a water right.”

Local news reports:

Christina del Campo surveys her field, pointing out the garlic she hopes will grow on its own, and the blueberries she’ll no longer be able to sell.

“This section of the field, I don’t know if I will even plant it,” she said. “I am potentially just going to put in a cover crop and build up the soil while I live in limbo and see what’s gonna happen with water rights.”

This is Oak Song Farm, a property located off Lorane Highway near Eugene, with just over half an acre dedicated to agriculture.

For seven years, del Campo has used well water to grow vegetables here, which she’s sold at farmers markets and to her neighbors. She said that’s been her primary source of income.

“It’s like a convenience store,” said del Campo. “People can stop in. I see a lot of people come on Sunday mornings to grab fixings for breakfast.”

ADVERTISEMENT

However, everything changed last September. That’s when Oak Song Farm received a letter from the regional office of the Oregon Water Resources Department. It was a notification that the farm couldn’t irrigate its commercial crops without a water right.

Del Campo said this came as a complete surprise. Today, she said her business has been essentially destroyed.

“I don’t know why growing food is illegal,” she said. “That’s what doesn’t make sense to me.”

Water is a publicly-owned resource in Oregon, meaning property owners need government approval for many of its uses.

“It’s a finite resource,” said Mike McCord, the Northwest Region Manager with the Oregon Water Resources Department. “The system of appropriation has been in place since 1909 in Oregon. It allows us to better manage the resource by having a permitting system.”

There are some exemptions, as those without a water right can use up to 5,000 gallons a day for commercial or industrial purposes. However, this doesn’t include irrigation, McCord said.

For del Campo, it’s a frustrating double standard. She estimates she was using fewer than 1,000 gallons daily for agriculture.

“I’m not overusing water. I’m not overusing land,” said del Campo. “I’m just trying to have a small business and provide my community with food.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The letter to Oak Song Farm was one of 24 sent in a batch last fall throughout District 2, which covers the Southern Willamette Valley. The department said some recipients later confirmed they were acting legally.

McCord said officials use aerial photography, complaints from neighbors, and in-the-field observation to find potential violations. He said new funding in 2021 allowed the state to hire more staff for enforcement.

However, he said the rules surrounding water rights haven’t significantly changed since Oak Song Farm opened.

“What I’d like people to hear is that before someone invests in something like this, they should do the diligence on it to know what [they] can and can’t do, and what [they] may or may not need in order to do it,” McCord said.

Advocates for small farms say the exemptions can be confusing, and there’s a lack of knowledge in the real estate community that can mislead new property owners.

“When you farm for other people, you just don’t know all the business side of it,” said del Campo. “And so when I signed up for my business license, I would figure that that would be the time someone would tell me, ‘Hey, do you have water rights?”

Following the letter, del Campo has applied to pull and store water from a nearby creek, although she said she may not be able to afford the necessary infrastructure.

State officials say a typical application will likely take more than a year if it’s approved. Alice Morrison with Friends of Family Farmers said it’s increasingly uncommon that a water right will actually be given out.

“You’ve just spent thousands of dollars and waited 18 months to be told your business is shut down either way,” Morrison said.

This, along with all the attacks on farmers lately, reminds me of Stalin’s view on this group:

Stalin called the farmers enemies of the people. pic.twitter.com/mo4SOS5v8M

— Miriam .17 (@Miriam31932023) January 6, 2024

My #TuesdayMotivaton is to continue reading

Before my shift I’ve managed to read a bit about Holodomor again and found that big famine of 1933 was a result of Stalin’s crazy plans of industrialisation

Famine as a consequence and a tool to break farmers as class pic.twitter.com/qWj6hsFvv3

— Jane (@UkraineEugenia) January 30, 2024

I wonder why we weren’t taught in school about the Holodomor?