Wiser use of water

Here’s an idea: Let’s help local farmers and ranchers use less water to irrigate the same acreage, leaving more water in the river for fish.

Oh, and these new irrigation systems will take less time, and money, to maintain.

If there’s an antithesis to pork barrel spending (barbecued chicken, maybe?) the Burnt River project could serve as the standard example.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service announced the award last week. We hope the agency’s Baker City office is inundated with requests for a share, which can amount to as much as $70,000 per project.

The federal dollars are supposed to pay up to half the landowners’ cost to install efficient irrigation equipment, although in some cases the grant might cover more than half.

Farmers and ranchers don’t have any legal obligation to minimize water use; they just need to comply with the terms of the water rights.

However, we’d wager that many, and probably most, producers would gladly cut their water consumption so long as they don’t bankrupt their operation.

The government’s offer of a carrot rather than a stick should benefit those willing landowners, as well as everyone, and everything, that also depends on the water that flows down the Burnt River.