As I detailed last August in “Who uses all the water?“, the majority of irrigators in Central Oregon are hobby farmers having less than $10,000 a year in revenue (not profit) and often losing money on operations. As I wrote in that post, “Real agriculture is important, but our local economy is diverse and primarily driven by people attracted to Central Oregon for the outdoor lifestyle.  Shouldn’t water use support our current economy and rules governing its use be forward looking?  Why should taxpayers provide massive support for hobbies?  Perhaps most important, we are facing a climate crisis and can no longer afford the waste.  It’s time for fundamental change.”

Last February Central Oregon LandWatch, the High Desert Food and Farm Alliance, and Central Oregon Community College surveyed Central Oregon Irrigation District patrons. The results of that survey were published on September 28. It’s a short and interesting article and I encourage you to read it. Earlier this month I asked COLW to see the raw data from the survey and was struck by the answers to two questions which reinforced my position.

“Please tell us about your personal land/water use”, see the table below. Only 12.54% of respondents use their land and water for commercial productions.

This matches the responses to the question, “The agriculture I conduct on my property is my primary livelihood.” 88% of the respondents indicated that they do not make a living from their land and water use.

To be clear, everyone has a right to pursue their hobby, but should the rest of us subsidize it? Should the “lifestyle” economy that drives our prosperity as well as fish and wildlife suffer due to the hobbies of a few?