Whew, the sparks were jumping off the ceiling and walls at our June meeting. The topic was water for farmers or the lack thereof. The room was fairly full for our three presenters, Martin Sebren of the Kitsap PUD, James Hart of the Westsound Utilities District and Jay Cook of the Department of Ecology. Chris Henry of the Kitsap Sun was in attendance and did a bang up job of reporting so please read her article for the results:
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/jun/11/local-food-movement-creates-new-thirst-for-water/
Chris Dunagan is also a Kitsap Sun reporter who writes knowledgeably about water issues had a good comment at:
http://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/2009/06/12/water-is-a-key-issue-in-the-growing-buy-local-movement/
Water hasn’t been the only thing our task force has been busy with. We have been working with the Kitsap Commissioners’ Office writing or facilitating proposals to respond to potential stimulus funding dollars that might be available for Kitsap County. Chris Henry also did a good job reporting on that story at :
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/jun/11/agriculture-could-sprout-again-in-kitsap-thanks/
The bottom line: Access to water is critical to building a local food network in Kitsap County. This ia topic that our task force will need to take up as part of our march to make growing and eating local food mainstream in Kitsap County.
I would really appreciate your comments on these important topics.
About Jim Freeman
Jim is a real estate broker and licensed loan originator in Kitsap County, WA. He is also an angel investor in a software company, a children's toy product development and sales company, a biogas energy company, a CSA member and a pastured poultry operation on an Olympic Peninsula certified organic farm. As a business owner and investor Jim knows the central importance importance of local agriculture and looks to buy local food and invest in local food producers and processors whenever possible.
Mr. Freeman,
I caught the news article in the Kitsap Sun over water rights. I was unaware at how difficult it was to obtain water rights in this area. Especially with all the abundant rain we receive each and every year. Have there been any studies or serious thought given to rain harvesting in the local area for agricultural use? Are farmers allowed to legally harvest and store rain water in a cistern in Kitsap County?
Sincerely,
Rob Taylor