Point Reyes Light- December 31, 1998
Bolinas organic grower agrees to lower dikes
Bolinas farmer Warren Weber settled his dispute with the Army Corps of Engineers this month by agreeing to lower the dikes separating an 11-acre plot of his organic Star Route Farms from the salt marsh on the fringes of Bolinas Lagoon.
Under the settlement, Weber in essence agreed to restore the drainage patterns of the property as they were in 1981, when he bought the wetlands for farming. Besides lowering the dikes, he has also agreed to create two additional drainage ditches and remove some tidegates.
The Army Corps of Engineers contends that Weber violated the Clean Water Act when he excavated the lettuce field's drainage ditches for maintenance then piled the fill onto the existing dikes, said Liz Varnhagen, a corps enforcement officer.
Weber denies any wrongdoing and maintains that his organic farming operation is consistent with all applicable land use regulations. The settlement, he said, allows Star Route Farms to avoid a protracted legal battle with the Army Corps that has lasted nearly two years all ready.
Although the settlement should resolve the legal dispute, Weber concedes that lowering the dikes may affect the quality of the wildlife habitat on his property, although no one can say how.
"The weakness of their case, and the weakness of my wallet, got us to the same place," he said. "Taking the dikes down doesn't do anything to our operation. The effect it has to the freshwater habitat isn't really clear."
During winter months, when the lower part of the field is saturated with rainwater, the dikes allow the freshwater to gradually drain into the lagoon. They do not prevent the property from becoming inundated by saltwater tides, he said.
Yet some local environmentalists, while praising the settlement and Weber's overall organic operation, contend that Star Route Farms should not be growing anything on wetlands.
Both county zoning and the Marin Local Coastal Plan recognize that Weber's property has value as a habitat where freshwater and saltwater marshes meet, said John O'Connor, a member of the Bolinas Lagoon Technical Advisory Committee.
O'Connor and others have asked the county officials, the California Coastal Commission, and the Bolinas Lagoon Technical Advisory Committee, to investigate whether Star Route Farms complies with environmental and land use laws.
Once Weber completes the restoration work, which probably won't begin for another six months, agencies with jurisdiction over the property have 180 days to check whether the farm meets all their standards.
Varnhagen of the Army Corps said once the restoration work is done, her agency will have no further role to play. The settlement, she said, safeguards the property's habitat values. "It's generally the intent of our whole regulatory program to protect natural resources," she said.
Weber dismisses his opponents' argument that his organic farming operation detracts from the value of his property as an environmental resource.
"From a habitat point of view, we know this is a very good fresh water marsh in the winter," he said. "The habitat issue is not the real issue for them. The issue is our use of the property.
"It's an organic farm," he continued. "We strive for a balance. We want a balance. I think we have it here ... The truth is everyone is managing every resource. The issue is whether they are managed well or not."