When is a ditch a stream?

The end of the road is at hand.  Tomorrow we will be done with the farm clean up and ready to hand it over to the "new" owner.  But in answer to the above question: it depends on who you ask.  Here is what we've had to put up with since we've been back from our motorcycle trip.

Let me start from the very beginning.  On the farm's property there is a ditch that was hand dug in 1906 as a runoff for the farms uphill from us.  Over the years the ditch (which has water in it only 3 months a year) started to erode the bank so that it was undermining the tree next to the house.  In July the county decided to put in a new culvert to "help" the flow and make the "ditch" fish friendly.  Fish?  What fish?  Anyway, they installed this HUGE culvert, so large that a six-foot person could walk through it without bending over, and thought they (the county) were great.  Fast forward to September, right before we left, and the Ditch District wanted to improve the ditch to make the flow better and make the ditch look better.  For the last 50 years Karl's aunt and uncle never allowed the district to come on their property.  After talking to the district Karl and his aunt decided that what they were proposing looked and sounded good.  But to go around the permit process, which would have taken 3 YEARS, they waited until we left the property so that we weren't there and wouldn't get involved.  Karl came back in December and saw what a great job they did and was happy with the result.

Now fast forward to 2010.  His aunt has agreed to put the farm up for sale.  It was on the market for 2 weeks and we had a perspective buyer.  We think everything is going great and suddenly a wrench is thrown into the works.  Now remember, this ditch has been here for over 100 years and nothing was ever done or said about it.  Suddenly SOMEONE notices that the ditch has been greatly improved, but not according to the county, Army Corps of Engineers, Conversation Corp or Washington Fish and Game's specification.  All of a sudden everyone was involved!  Their contention is that the rock that is lining the ditch's banks isn't "fish" friendly and would endanger new species.  Again - fish?  What fish?  "Supposedly" Fish and Game found "evidence" of fish and now the ditch has become a stream!    Now, on top of everything else the buyer's real estate agent is giving them all sorts of wrong advice.  She is finally FIRED!  Can you imagine how bad you must be if you get fired from real estate?  Now Karl is becoming very angry about the whole thing and is ready to tell all agencies involved to take the "offending" rocks  out then "get the hell off my land"!  I had to stay in the motorhome while he was having the meeting with all the agencies because I would have gotten myself in a whole lot of trouble with my mouth.  Finally we went to the county ourselves and got the true answers from all involved then went back and let our real estate agent know so that he could give the information to the buyer.  Then, in an unheard of move, our agent suggested that Karl talk to the buyer directly so that he could give the answers he got and who he talked to at the county.  BTW - even the county people think this Fish and Game District is going way overboard in calling certain things as a stream.  In the meantime an agent from the Conservation agency brought out their own engineer to test the rocks on the banks and even they said that it was done very well and would hold up.  Plus it would cause more damage removing them.

As of today Fish and Game, Conversation Agency, Whatcom County and ACorE are all in agreement that if the rocks are removed and they are allowed to plant native foliage along the bank they will approve the sale.  FINALLY!!!!!

Tomorrow will be the last run of things out of the house and then everything will be done.  After three years we will be free of the farm, Aunt Myrne is happily settled in her assisted living and this mess called Whatcom County in Washington State run by flaming liberals will be out of our hands forever!

LET'S PARTY!!!!!!

So the answer to the question is:  if Fish and Game gets involved, no matter what it looks like, if it has "evidence" of fish it becomes a stream, whether there is running water or not.