Page 12 RAIN January 1982 WHITHER WA By Diane Jones In the Pacific Northwest there are still thousands of "small" irrigated family farms—160 to 500 acres. But the new wave in agricultural development is the monolithic spread: thirty thousand acres of green circles, revolving automated center-pivot sprinkler systems, monoculture. Some of these large spreads are owned by families—wealthy ones; others are owned by large corporations—U and I, Inc., Prudential Life Insurance Company, Burlington Northern Railroad. Although many family farmers do not feel threatened by the presence of these giant competitors, statistics from the last 30 years spell the demise of family farming and its replacement with large-scale agribusiness. In Oregon, Washington and Idaho, we have lost close to 3000 farms each year since 1950. Between 1950 and 1974, the number of irrigated farms in the Northwest decreased by 22,000, while the amount of irrigated acreage increased by 1.7 million acres and the average size of an irrigated farm almost tripled. But, for us non-farmers, what difference does all this make? There are plenty of good arguments for preserving or returning to a family farming system. These arguments have to do with equity of land distribution, the avoidance of a petroleum-based monopoly in our food production system, the proven greater production efficiency of the single family farm over larger entities, and the applicability of appropriate, energy-saving, non-polluting and possibly organic technologies to family-scale farming. But beyond these mostly philosophical arguments is the fact that important public resources—water, energy, and in some cases land—are being used in the Pacific Northwest to promote the growth of large- scale agribusiness. Thus, if we care about the allocation of these resources, or about our pocketbooks when it comes time to pay our electricity bills, then the issue of irrigated agribusiness becomes our business, too. Seventy-five percent of the Pacific Northwest's agricultural production comes from the east of the Cascades, in the arid basins of the Snake and Columbia rivers. Irrigated acreage in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho now stands at about eight million acres, having grown by nearly one million acres during the last decade. The three states predict that growth will continue, with the addition of another three million acres of irrigated land over the next 30 or 40 years. WATER AND ENERGY—PUBLIC SUBSIDIES The mighty Columbia River and its tributaries, including the Snake, are the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest. Originating at Columbia Lake in the Canadian Rockies and flowing 1200 river miles to the Pacific Ocean, this vast river system drains 259,000 square miles and generates nearly 80 percent of the region's electricity. Yet, as vast and formidable a resource as the Columbia River may seem, virtually all of its water is already claimed for one or more useful purposes. Irrigation diversions do not occur year round—they are concentrated in the summer months, and so is the effect on streamflows. For example, future irrigation depletions could reduce the August flows of the Columbia at The Dalles, Oregon, by as much as 30% in a drought year. August flows on the Snake River at Hells Canyon could be reduced by nearly half in an average year, or 55% in a drought year. These figures, which indicate the proposed magnitude of future diversions, also point at major impacts in terms of fish runs, wildlife habitat, recreation, and navigation. Dependent upon the availability of water is another vital resource, hydropower. This resource is "public" in the sense that it is generated with publicly-owned water. All of the dams on the main-stem Columbia were publicly constructed, by the federal government or by public utilities. Even a private utility such as Idaho Power Company, with dams on the Snake River, is publically regulated and its dams are
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