County staff, consultants present agricultural resource land study framework; commissioners press on irrigation, parcelization and food security

Clark County staff and consultants presented a technical framework for the county’s agricultural resource land study at the Aug. 27, 2025 Agricultural Advisory Commission meeting and invited commissioner input on how to operationalize state guidelines.

Oliver Oriaco, Clark County community planning director, said the county engaged EcoNorthwest and Triangle Associates to conduct a study required by the Washington Growth Management Act as part of the 2025–2045 comprehensive plan update. Barrett Lewis of EcoNorthwest summarized county trends and the state rule that guides the work, saying farmland acreage in Clark County fell about 38% in the last five years while farm counts declined roughly 3% and market value rose about 24%.

Lewis described the state guideline (WAC 365‑190‑050) that requires counties to evaluate whether land is (1) not characterized by urban growth, (2) used or capable of being used for agriculture, and (3) of long‑term commercial significance. He said the WAC lists about 11 nonexclusive criteria — including soils, parcel size, proximity to urban growth boundaries, irrigation availability, access to markets, and tax status — and that the county must tailor the analysis to local context.

Commissioners pressed staff and consultants on several operational issues to inform the next methodological draft: availability of irrigation and how it should be factored; how to count clustered agricultural parcels or agricultural density versus isolated parcels; whether tax status (current‑use or open‑space programs) would be included; the role of infrastructure design (curb, roundabouts, narrow approaches) in practical farm access; whether critical areas or overlays such as riparian habitat would affect designation; and how to define and measure “food security” as a criterion. Staff confirmed they will reference the county definition of agriculture in Title 40 when preparing bylaws and will propose a methods memo at the next commission meeting.

Public engagement and next steps EcoNorthwest and Triangle Associates will draft proposed methods based on commissioner input and staff direction, then present those methods at a subsequent meeting before producing general mapping results. Staff said they plan an open house in September and may deploy a public survey; consultants asked commissioners and stakeholders to email technical input and data references to staff. Staff will provide historical documentation of prior ag designations and maps used in the 1994 process on request.

Quotes “The WAC provides a framework but grants counties flexibility to tailor methods to regional characteristics,” EcoNorthwest’s Barrett Lewis said. “How we define, measure and prioritize these criteria is the central question for our methodology.”

“What I would say is that irrigation is probably the most critical,” Commissioner Dylan Hagerty said during discussion, noting dry parcels that cannot be irrigated are often unsuitable for commercial agriculture.

Ending Staff requested written input and offered one‑on‑one technical follow‑ups; consultants will return with a proposed methods approach for commissioner review.