It all comes down to water.

In Montana, water, or at least access to it, is the center of a debate between ranch owners and residential real estate developers. Six ranch owners are seeking the help of the Department of Natural Resources in limiting the water use rights they feel are being doled out carelessly, thanks to a loophole in the law, to supply new subdivisions with water that is sorely needed for agribusiness use.

 At the core of the debate is the state-use rule that allow for small wells located within large subdivisions to be exempt from state water laws. While the law gives priority to existing farms and ranches, the loophole has allowed developments to tap into underground water supplies without any regulatory repercussions. The land, once used for agricultural purposes, is now being developed, putting tens of thousands of new homes onto the Montana landscape and taxing an already limited underground water supply. In some cases, hundreds of homes are drawing from the same underground water source. Between 2000 and 2008, nearly 30,000 wells, all exempt from state laws, were drilled in the state. 

Who owns the water rights? According to Montana’s laws, the farming interests in the state have more or less a first-use right to the water. Yet with climate issues putting even more demand on water supplies, new development could spell disaster for agribusinesses should water supplies become depleted. Agribusiness owners who are seeing housing developments springing up around them are deeply concerned. Owners with water rights dating back hundreds of years are now scrambling to stop the slow draining of water that threatens to alter how they do business.

 This news comes on the heels of a USDA report showing that nearly 55 million acres of US farmland are now irrigated, a figure that shows a five-percent increase in the last six years. That’s an expensive alternative – the study found that in 2008 alone, agribusiness owners spent $2.1 billion on expenses related to irrigation equipment, facilities, land improvements and computer technology.

What do you think? Who owns the rights to the water supply? Where does your business obtain its water? Should there be a shared interest between agribusinesses and residents?

Flickr photo credit: dsearls

Filed under: Agribusiness by afis blogger