Family Farm Alliance - The Family Farm Alliance Website

The Alliance formally responded to President Obama's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) efforts to prepared new standards for all federal water projects. CEQ's standards, which will be forwarded to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for further review, seek to elevate the environmental impacts of water projects to equal footing with traditional cost-benefit economic calculations.

There is growing concern within the water user community and among flood control interests that the goal of avoiding adverse impacts to ecosystems could prevent nearly any proposed water infrastructure project moving forward. The Alliance submitted detailed comments to CEQ that detail many of these types of concerns.

CLICK HERE for the Alliance comment letter.

CLICK HERE for the Alliance summary transmittal to CEQ.

Family Farm Alliance 2009 "Activities and Accomplishments" Report. A 30 plus page summary of how the Alliance engaged on matters important to Western irrigators. Click here for the PDF version of the report.

Climate Change and Western Water Resources

The Family Farm Alliance board of directors in February 2007 made climate change a priority issue for the Alliance to engage in. The Alliance in September 2007 released its climate change report, entitled “Water Supply in a Changing Climate: The Perspective of Family Farmers and Ranchers in the Irrigated West”. The report was prepared by a climate change subcommittee, Advisory Committee members, and water resources experts from around the West.

Western Water Policy - Challenges and Opportunities of Times and Our Legacy for the Next Generation

The Alliance's perspective on a new course for managing Western water issues. Developed in time to provide guidance for a new Administration in Washington.
View Printable version of the executive summary brochure.

Welcome to the Family Farm Alliance Web site. We invite you to take a look around our site and find out more about our Alliance.

Alliance Mission
Defending Irrigated Agriculture

The Family Farm Alliance is a powerful advocate for family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts, and allied industries in seventeen Western states. The Alliance is focused on one mission - To ensure the availability of reliable, affordable irrigation water supplies to Western farmers and ranchers.

The Family Farm Alliance is recognized as an authority on critical issues dealing with Western water policy. Our targeted focus enables us to be extremely effective.

To support our mission, we seek to:

· Impact key issues in Congress and federal and state regulatory agencies on irrigated agriculture issues.

· Build coalitions and create powerful alliances to advocate for irrigated agriculture.

· Facilitate the delivery of accurate and timely information to Congress, regulatory agencies and our members on issues which impact Western irrigators.

· Communicate with the media and the public on critical issues impacting Western irrigated agriculture.

Learn more about us....

Dan Keppen

Executive Director

Family Farm Alliance

In the News....

Report Describes Innovative Water Management Actions

Taken by Western Water Users

Is there any way to prevent water wars?

In Wyoming, ranchers are creating a model watershed that hosts a myriad of wildlife, and robust natural resources while sustaining compatible agricultural uses and a natural resource based recreational economy.
In Arizona, irrigation districts are experimenting with ways to use fish instead of chemicals to control aquatic weeds in the local canal systems.
In the Colorado River watershed, farmers and ranchers, conservation groups and urban water users are collaborating on plans to develop new water management systems to ensure that water transfers from rural communities will not harm those communities.
On California’s Sacramento River, irrigation districts are working with the federal government to install a state-of-the art fish screen to protect the habitat for endangered fish and improve water supply reliability for rice farmers and orchardists.

These are just a few examples of creative and successful ways that scientists and agricultural leaders in the Western states are working together to conserve water, develop safe and effective water markets, fix aging infrastructure problems, and restore watersheds.

These and many other examples are detailed in a new report from the Family Farm Alliance. Our report, “Western Water Management Case Studies” has been developed as a practical tool for policy makers and water users who are struggling with the complications created by a host of new rules, policies and prescriptions for water and the environment.

Download the Water Management Case Study Report (3 MB)

Download and Print the July 30, 2010 Press Release

June-July 2010 "Monthly Briefing"

Alliance Backs Hydropower Act

EPA, Activists Toughen Stance on Pesticide Use

Klamath Irrigation District Seeks General Manager

Congress and EPA Seek to Expand Clean Water Act

EPA Draft Permit Includes Troubling "Waters of the U.S." Definition

Idaho Delegation Asks EPA to Drop Aquatic Herbicide Permit

ABC Annual Business Meeting

EPA Seeks Public Comment of 5-Year Strategic Plan

Alliance Engages in Freshwater Summit

Alliance Testifies Before Congress on Stimulus Spending

Download and Print the June-July 2010 "Monthly Briefing"

May 2010 Family Farm "Water Review"

A layman's guide to California water law, written by Alliance director Sandy Denn, a rice farmer and lawyer from the Sacramento Valley.

Read & Download the May "Water Review"

Alliance Comment Letter to CEQ: May 17, 2010.

The Alliance submitted formal comments regarding the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) efforts to “modernize and reinvigorate” the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). CEQ says these measures will assist federal agencies to meet the goals of NEPA, enhance the quality of public involvement in governmental decisions relating to the environment, increase transparency and ease implementation. Western irrigators and others in the regulated community fear that the net result of these changes will be more expense, delay and bureaucracy in pursuing federal actions.

Click here for the Alliance NEPA letter sent to CEQ

Scrambling for Cover on Smelt
Federal Fish Agency Refuses to Answer Any Questions

On Scientific Basis for Its Restrictions on Water Deliveries
Contact: Dan Keppen Executive Director Family Farm Alliance, 541-892-6244

(Fresno, California – January 12, 2009) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rules cutting off water deliveries to protect the delta smelt have cost California tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in ruined crops and fallowed fields. Those restrictions aren’t helping the smelt; recent surveys show their numbers continue to fall. And now the agency is refusing to answer questions about whether there was any scientific basis for those restrictions in the first place.

As a result, the Family Farm Alliance announced today that it is seeking:

an order from the court to compel the agency to follow its own regulations:

Alliance Sets Up Legal Fund to Push for Sound Science in Federal Water Decisions

The Family Farm Alliance Board of Directors on June 9, 2009 took extraordinary action by directing staff to seek a judicial order requiring the federal government to use the best available scientific data in documents intended to protect the Delta Smelt under the Endangered Species Act, and is seeking contributions for a special fund established to support that effort.

Read and Print June 23 "Issue Alert" (PDF)

Read the Complaint filed with the court

Alliance Employs IQA to Ensure Sound Science is Used in CA

The Family Farm Alliance on December 15, 2008 filed a federal Information Quality Act (IQA) request with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that any new federal requirements for the protection of Delta Smelt will be based solely on the best available information. Congress established the IQA in 2001, with the intent of "ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility and integrity of information disseminated by Federal agencies."

If the information in the draft Effects Analysis for the Delta Smelt is not corrected, the Alliance is concerned that other water users will face drastic and potentially permanent reductions in the water they need to live, grow their crops, and run their businesses, and water agencies will have insufficient supplies to satisfy demand.

Read the December 15, 2008 Alliance Media Release.

Read the transmittal letter.

Read the summary of requests.

Read the detailed request document

Read the Delta Smelt Affects Analysis

Read the 8/13/09 USFWS Response to the Alliance appeal

Read the 8/24/09 Alliance Rebuttal to USFWS