The Washington Department of Ecology issued a $20,000 fine to RAN General Partnership and its owner Rick Alamwala for illegally irrigating about 40 acres of crops in Whatcom County during the 2024 irrigation season. Alamwala received a fine in 2023 for the same violations and has continued to irrigate.
Ecology first learned of Alamwala’s intent to farm 40 acres in the Lynden-Sumas area in January 2022. Ecology staff informed Alamwala that there were no water rights associated with the property. Despite attempts by Ecology staff to provide technical assistance, Alamwala ignored Ecology’s repeated attempts to gain voluntary compliance, culminating in Ecology’s issuance of a cease-and-desist order in July 2022. Technical assistance from Ecology usually involves informing the irrigator they don’t have water rights and explaining how they might get access to water legally.
In the summer of 2023, Alamwala irrigated about 40 acres of newly planted blueberries without securing a legal right to use the water. Ecology issued a $12,000 penalty in July 2023. Despite the penalty, Alamwala continued irrigating the properties throughout the 2024 irrigation season, leading to the second penalty.
The Nooksack Basin has had an instream flow rule since 1985 and junior water right holders are often restricted due to low streamflows during the summer months. Alamwala’s continued illegal water use further impairs low summer streamflows and takes water away from other legal water users. An instream flow rule is essentially a water right for the river and establishes minimum amounts of water that must be in the stream before water users can divert it.
Based on irrigation guidance developed for Washington agriculture, Ecology estimates that irrigating the properties requires more than 17 million gallons of water per year.
“Water is a precious resource for the Nooksack Basin in the summer, and non-permitted water use affects all aspects of our community—our people, our farms, and our fish,” said Kasey Cykler, Northwest Region manager for Ecology’s Water Resources program.