Fodé inherited a sprawling 4,000‑acre operation in 1984, but the family’s holdings have shrunk to 290 acres after the penalties gutted the business.
In 2017, the farmer applied for a seasonal water‑right transfer in January, but a February 14 refusal from a state watermaster left him without a lawful route for irrigation.
The Ecology Department later levied penalties for 103 days of irrigation, totaling $206,000 for owned land, $103,000 for a 65‑acre parcel, and $309,000 for 335 acres leased, before cutting the landlord liabilities.
Washington law mandates the department provide technical assistance before enforcement; Fodé cites a 2002 statute and a recent admission from an ecology program manager that the agency failed to meet that duty.
The case could redefine how state agencies enforce unpublished internal deadlines, raising questions about the legality of the February 15 cut‑off that the farmers say was never formally adopted.
For the Fodés, the battle has meant losing most of the land that fed their four children and cutting the farm’s output in half, as the couple recounts the day they had to abandon a 4,000‑acre field.