Whatcom farm fined for illegally irrigating 40 acres of blueberries
A Whatcom County farm has been fined for illegally irrigating about 40 acres of blueberries.
The Department of Ecology said in a news release that it repeatedly warned RAN General Partnership to not plant on three parcels of land straddling Lynden and Sumas as the area did not have water rights.
Despite a cease-and-desist order last summer, RAN planted around 40 acres of blueberries on the parcels in the fall, according to the Department of Ecology. Irrigation estimates of the RAN property shows the farm needed more than 17 million gallons of water a year.
As a result, RAN has been issued a $12,000 fine for irrigating the crops in June and July.
Ecology staff reportedly learned of RAN’s plans to farm the land in January 2022, and informed the company there were no water rights in the area. RAN never attempted to gain voluntary compliance, according to the release.
“Irrigating a high-value crop like blueberries without a water right gives RAN General Partnership an unfair advantage over other farmers in the community that work hard to obey state laws, obtain legal water rights, and curtail when streamflows are low,” said Kasey Cykler, Northwest Region manager for Ecology’s Water Resources program.
“Water is a precious resource for the Nooksack Basin this time of year, and this non-permitted use negatively affects all aspects of our community — our people, farms, and fish.”
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