County consultants present agricultural land study data; farmers press for water-rights, countywide mapping and boots-on-the-ground checks

Clark County Community Planning staff and Echo Northwest consultants on Sept. 24 presented a draft agricultural resource land study and asked the Clark County Agricultural Advisory Commission for feedback on the datasets and mapping methods that will help determine lands the county may classify as agricultural resource land under state guidance.

The study team showed several data “lenses” — NRCS soil capability classes, SSURGO soil quality ratings, the American Farmland Trust productivity/versatility/resilience (PVR) index, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) crop and irrigation maps, and county current-use program enrollment — and asked commissioners and nearby farmers to flag errors and gaps before the report is finalized and sent to the county council and planning commission.

Nut graf: The work is intended to meet state administrative-code criteria for designating agricultural lands and to feed the county’s comprehensive-plan update and draft environmental impact statement. Consultants and staff said county input and ground truthing from local farmers will help avoid mistaken classification of productive fields, and several speakers urged adding water-rights data and countywide soil maps so officials can see acreage lost to urbanization.

Barrett Lewis, an Echo Northwest consultant, described the study’s focus: “We are determining whether lands are used or capable of being used for agricultural production,” and explained the team was presenting multiple publicly available datasets so the commission could “gut…