Originally published in Issue 4 of HEMP. Subscribe HERE or find in a local grocery store.
UPDATE: Early this October, Kim Phillips successfully harvested her first hemp crop! The victory came after the Montana hemp farmer was granted the right to irrigate her crop with federal water just in time for the 2018 planting season.
In late May, Montana hemp farmer Kim Phillips finally learned that her long struggle with the federal government was over: She had won the right to irrigate her crops with federal water.
“They tried every which way to stop it, but I lucked out and would not back down,” Phillips said.
On May 31, the Federal Bureau of Reclamation informed Phillips that they would allow her access to federal water for use on her hemp fields. The news came just in time, as hemp growing season was right around the corner.
It only took Phillips about two weeks to mobilize and get her hemp planted. “All our plants are pretty much in the ground now,” Phillips told HEMP in early June.
Weapon of Choice: Legal Pressure
Dan DuBray, chief of public affairs at the commissioner’s office of the Bureau of Reclamation, confirmed that Phillips was granted a water permit.
“Ms. Phillips has been authorized to use 69 acre-feet of federal water from Reclamation’s Canyon Ferry Reservoir, delivered through the facilities of the Helena Valley Irrigation District,” he wrote in an email.
Water Wars Won: Hemp Farmer Earns Right to Irrigate with Federal Water – The Hemp Mag
After more than a year of fighting the federal government, a Montana hemp farmer finally wins the right to irrigate her crop with federal water. Originally published in Issue 4 of HEMP. Subscribe HERE or find in a local grocery store. UPDATE: Early this October, Kim Phillips successfully harvested her first hemp crop!
