Lynden-area farmer diverts irrigation water to save stranded salmon

LYNDEN, Wash. - In mid-August, Jeff Littlejohn noticed something strange. He lives near the Double Ditch stream a bit south of the Canadian border.

The stream normally flows year round even in summers with little rainfall as this year. But the stream was slowing to a trickle and that meant that the fish and aquatic life in the stream were dying. He contacted the Fish and Wildlife department who came out to investigate. 

Crews from Whatcom Conservation District, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology, City of Bellingham, City of Lynden and others work to try to save salmon and other aquatic life stranded in Double Ditch Stream.

Larry Stap is a fourth generation dairy farmer and co-owner of the popular glass bottled dairy product brand, TwinBrook Creamery, with his son-in-law and daughter.  Their farm lies adjacent to the stream along with the Fishtrap creek, hence “twin brook.” When Stap saw the dying fish, he and co-owner Mark Tolsma made an immediate decision: divert their much needed irrigation water into the struggling stream. Well water was pumped into the stream and helped provide the time needed to rescue as many of the remaining fish as possible. 

​It wasn’t the first time Whatcom’s family farmers sacrificed to divert water into streams during the low flow times of late summer. For several years, farmers in the Bertrand Watershed Improvement District worked with state officials to allow them to use well water to pump cold, oxygenated water into the Bertrand creek to support fish habitat. Legal decisions and bureaucratic processes delayed the effort for a couple of years. This action followed the earlier voluntary diversion of water rights. Farmers for years have had the legal right to draw irrigation water directly from the stream, but now understand that during the heat of summer more water is needed in the creek so have been allowed to convert those surface water rights to groundwater rights allowing them to use wells for irrigation. More rights could be converted but unfortunate legal decisions have hindered that process.

These are just two of literally hundreds of examples of what Whatcom Family Farmers are calling REAL: Real Environmental Action and Leadership. The public doesn’t automatically think of farmers as environmental activists, and indeed they aren’t in the sense of protesting, suing and lobbying. But they might instead be called “environmental actionists” because of the proactive and positive actions taken to help protect the environment.

A few more examples:

• Recently farmers along the Fishtrap Creek participated with the Whatcom Conservation District and Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association in planting trees and vegetation along a portion of the Fishtrap creek. The vegetative buffer helps shade the stream and protect against contamination which enhances the ability of the stream to support fish.

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• Whatcom farmers have supported the restoration of riparian zones (as these vegetative buffers are called) along over 200 miles of streams in Whatcom County alone. More than one and a half million trees and shrubs have been planted as part of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) through the Conservation District.
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• A seed potato farmer recently completed horizontal well drilling which further reduces the amount of irrigation water taken from streams, allowing groundwater to be used instead even in an area where groundwater is difficult to capture.

• Water efficiency has improved greatly by berry farmers installing drip irrigation. While the older style irrigation was about 60% efficient, the drip method conserves water by improving efficiency to over 90%. Nearly all berry farmers in the county now use this method.
  
  
• Dairy farmers also have reduced water use by over 60% in the last fifty years per gallon of milk produced.

• The 1998 Dairy Nutrient Management Act was supported by the dairy community. These regulations, among the most stringent in the nation, resulted in very significant reductions in nitrate and fecal coliform contamination in our surface and groundwater. The regulations control how and when manure is applied to crops and dictate zero discharge of manure to ground or surface water. Whatcom’s dairy farmers have the highest level of compliance with these regulations in the state.

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• Farmers provide the necessary homes for wildlife like deer, racoon, beavers, coyotes and much more. Those involved in trumpeter swan recovery credit farmers for providing the homes for nearly 20,000 swans that winter in northwest Washington, greatly aiding their recovery. While the hundreds of thousands of winter birds do significant damage to fields and cause fecal coliform contamination of water that some blame on dairy cows, farmers continue to host and protect these birds without protest. One dairy farmer between Lynden and Blaine has contributed 40 acres of farmland to beaver and wildlife habitat. Another farmer took steps to improve bird habitat.
  
  
• The Four Mile Stream near Laurel was choked with canary grass and mud contributing to flooding of farmland and harming fish. Farmers worked together to restore the stream ensuring the free flow of cool, oxygenated water and preventing flooding of farmland.

The strict farming regulations combined with literally hundreds of proactive measures taken by farmers to protect the environment are working. Recent monitoring by the Department of Ecology shows that groundwater quality nearest our dairy farms is actually improving. Nitrate levels are restricted by EPA regulations and nitrate above the EPA limit is very common in most areas where farming has long existed. This is because until about the 1970s no one was aware that the heavy use of fertilizer, either organic as in cow manure or commercial fertilizer, meant that excess nitrogen was leaching into groundwater. We now know that it takes 3o to 50 years of improved farm practices to affect nitrate levels in groundwater and the fact that in Whatcom County we are seeing improvement means that what farmers are doing is positively working.
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Farming has always had an impact on the environment and problems continue as we hear more and more about environmental impacts of farming across the nation and world. Whatcom farmers clearly understand that not all problems have been solved and the potential for contamination remains. That’s one reason why farmers have come together in groups such as the six Watershed Improvement Districts and Whatcom Family Farmers. Together farmers can encourage each other, support positive policy actions and improve public understanding of the REAL environmental leadership farmers provide.

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