Government Threatens Seizure of 85-yr-old’s Entire Farm for Irrigating Wrong Field

State officials are preparing to take the land and legacy of a farmer for the crime of water “violations.”

“The state wants people to think I’m an outlaw,” says Bob Greiff. “They don’t want people to know the true story.”(Photo by Ray Aguirre)

The government is preparing to take the private land and legacy of an 85-year-old farmer for the crime of irrigation. Why? He watered his crops without regulatory approval.

“I didn’t use a drop past my legal rights, but because I put it on the wrong field, I’m a criminal and the state wants to take everything I have,” Bob Greiff says. “It’s all about control. And power.”

In response to Greiff’s water “violations,” the Washington State Department of Ecology levied a series of fines totaling $121,000 and slapped a lien on his property. The department issued press releases championing its actions, and portrayed Greiff as an environmental outlaw. Notably, Ecology officials are not penalizing Greiff for the amount of water pumped, but rather, the location applied. Put it where we say, or else.

“This is the worst abuse of power by Ecology over a farmer I’ve seen in my career,” says water consultant Tim Reierson. “Why the state chose to issue massive fines instead of permits is unexplainable. And the more facts you know, the worse it gets. Ecology made it impossible for Bob to be legal and still survive on that farm. It’s cruel. I can back everything I say.”

Greiff insists the state’s measures are a “nightmare dream you don’t wake up from.”

“Why do they care what crops or acres I put my legally obtained water on?” he asks. “How did things ever get this crazy for farmers?”

On a bare-bones 160-acre (120 arable) farm outside Deer Park, in northeast Washington’s Spokane County, Bob Greiff rotates alfalfa, oats, hay, and barley. His fields are evenly split by a road—two 80-acre tracts to the south and north of the ribbon. Greiff rubs pennies to make dollars: His last tractor purchase was in 1992—for $70,000. “We traded a number of even older tractors just to get the price down to what we could afford,” he recalls.

Deploying conservative farming practices on relatively tiny acreage, Greiff’s operation is akin to a step back in time. Describing Greiff as old-school is an understatement.

In 1939, Greiff’s father, Willie, purchased an initial portion of the creek-side property and planted seed potatoes. A decade later, in 1949, Willie secured a water right and began irrigating.

“I had a set amount of water I was allowed to use, but they said I was in big trouble if I used it on any row except what they allowed,” Greiff explains.(Photo by Ray Aguirre)

“My dad bought that first 80 by the creek and then bought another 80 across the road,” Greiff explains. “In about 1953, he ran a pipe under the road and started pumping to both fields because the second one had more cultivated land and was level.”

Willie watered on both sides of the road until his death in 1991. Greiff continued watering in the same manner. Potatoes were replaced by alfalfa and grain. Regardless of crop, Greiff’s soil produces limited yield without moisture. Each year, as his crops rotate on a given piece of dirt, he requires flexibility to add more water in some areas and less in others. The logistical dance is make or break: For example, Greiff typically grows one crop of alfalfa dryland and three irrigated, and he grows 50-bushel dryland wheat and 100-plus-bushel irrigated wheat.

Legally, Greiff holds three water rights totaling 136 acre-feet per year annual volume for irrigation on 37 acres north of the dividing road. “I’ve always pumped from our water rights and survived on this dirt since I was a boy,” Greiff exclaims. “Now they tell me they’ll kick me off my own land. For what? Because I irrigated the wrong acres without permission and owe them $121,000.”

“Sound crazy? It is. One day I’m pumping water just like I have for 70 years, and the next day I’m the target of people who know nothing about farming. Nothing.”

In 2019, Greiff’s mailbox clinked with a snail-mail message from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Mr. Greiff, you’re irrigating on the south side the road, but we don’t find a record of a water right for you to do that.

(Significantly, Ecology made recent headlines in 2023 after fining King Ranch in Grant and Douglas counties almost $268,000 for alleged wetlands destruction. Ecology referred King Ranch to the state attorney general for a criminal investigation. USDA is backing King Ranch.)

“It all started with a letter,” Greiff says, his voice trailing off in disbelief. “I had a set amount of water I was allowed to use, but they said I was in big trouble if I used it on any row except what they allowed.”

In July 2019, Greiff knocked on the front door of water consultant Tim Reierson’s home in Yakima, roughly three hours distant. Seated at Reierson’s dining room table, Greiff told his tale.

At the helm of Streamline Water Consulting, and highly esteemed in the irrigation industry, Reierson navigates both agriculture rows and the paperwork maze of water rights. Prior to private practice, he worked for seven years (1989-1996) at Ecology in the Water Rights Division. Translated: Reierson understands nuance on both sides of the table.

“If they want to destroy a farmer because he put his water on unapproved acres, then I’m not gonna run and hide,” Greiff says.(Photo by Ray Aguirre)

“The research showed Bob’s water rights don’t cover south of the road. Ecology doesn’t seem to register the significance of irrigating in plain sight for decades, but I found an explanation for it. In 1968, Bob filed to irrigate both north and south, and it was approved in 1975. But when Ecology certified the right in 1983, they left out the south part, possibly in error.”

“I don’t think Bob read the certificate fine print,” Reierson continues. “He thought it was fixed and farmed it 50 years. Ecology has this false narrative they’ve spread around that he’s a bad actor. Bob Greiff actually wants to follow the rules. That’s why he contacted me.”

“People need to understand how important this farm is, and Bob’s legacy. It’s subsistence farming and water-efficient to keep pumping costs down. Classic rotation practices; hand labor moving wheel lines; and the orchestrated timing and movement of limited water. He’s a treasure and so is that farm.”

Reierson’s remedy was straightforward: Follow the rulebook and get Greiff legally clear to irrigate the south acreage. Once approved, Greiff could take his 136-acre feet and “spread” it to the south acreage. Same amount of water—but poured thinner across more acres.

According to Washington State law, a grower is required to adhere to a single irrigation program for two years before “spreading” is allowed. Greiff willingly jumped through the onerous regulatory hoop.

“I asked Bob to follow the statutory requirements exactly to qualify for increasing acres, all while still using the same amount of water,” Reierson details. “There’s a calculation called the ACQ, the annual consumptive quantity, based on proving your annual beneficial use. It averages the highest two years in the past five. All we needed was two years of water use on the 37 acres in the north, file the applications, provide all the supporting documentation and technical work, and get the approvals. This is what I do for a living.”

“Bob did what I asked in 2020 and 2021, irrigating an alfalfa stand in the north. Alfalfa hay has deep roots. It takes lots of water and then gives multiple cuttings. He even had bad luck with a pump going down that hurt his average. He was willing to give up some water rights to get approved quickly.”

“One thing for certain, this was sure as hell never about water or the environment for them (Ecology),” Greiff says.(Photo by Ray Aguirre)

In 2022, with regulatory boxes ticked, Reierson presented all the paperwork to the Spokane County Water Conservancy Board and gained approval in August that year. Conservancy shipped their decisions to Ecology for a maximum 75-day review period. Under Washington State law, if Ecology does nothing, Conservancy approvals automatically become final.

After two years of yield losses on his south-of-the-road acreage to satisfy the state’s regulations, Greiff was on the cusp of gaining permission to spread water.

“Ecology intervened on day 58 and that’s when it got surreal,” Reierson says. “At first, they said the water rights couldn’t be overlapped, which is nonsense, but they also said Greiff wouldn’t be able to farm that many acres with the amount of rights he had. The power records on his irrigation pumps proved he did. To tell Greiff how he can and can’t farm is insulting—and embarrassing for Ecology.”

Conservancy had accepted Reierson’s irrigation plan on Aug. 22, 2022, opening a path for Greiff to irrigate on both sides of the road and spread the water onto all irrigated acres.

However, on Nov. 9, Conservancy called for a meeting with Ecology, recalls Kevin Freeman, then chair of Conservancy. “There’s not funding for us to hire our own private consultants to review those applications. We’re a volunteer board, so we rely on Ecology’s technical expertise related to the applications. Regarding Mr. Greiff, we had questions about the technical aspects of how water spreading was to occur between groundwater and surface rights. Turns out, Ecology didn’t agree with Mr. Greiff’s consultant’s (Reierson) interpretation of how the water was to be spread and if that was appropriate.”

“I’ve always tried to do things right on this farm and I never dreamed my own state would treat me or anyone else like this,” Greiff says.(Photo by Ray Aguirre)

“We never approved the application,” says Freeman, a geologist and a hydrogeologist working mainly in lower Yakima Valley with long legs in private consulting—35 years of experience. “This was a technical disagreement at the state level between Ecology and Mr. Greiff and his consultant. It was apparent that that difference was strong enough that Ecology would reject the application. We felt it was better for Mr. Greiff to work directly with Ecology.”

Six days later, on Nov. 15, public records show Conservancy voted to withdraw its decisions, stating for each: “The board intends to revise and resubmit for Ecology review the record of decision and report of examination for the subject application.”

Reierson explained his consent, “I initially agreed to that step, for the board to withdraw its formal approvals from August 2022, based on the promise a compromise could be found with Ecology. Plus, we had no leverage, meaning no money or time to fight Ecology in court if they denied the board’s approvals. But when Ecology intervened, what followed was an exhausting game of ‘bring me a rock.’”

“That’s where clients without wealth would go broke,” Rierson adds, “but I’d stopped charging Bob by this time so it didn’t work.”

In early February 2023, Reierson completed a third technical report. He thought he had finally broken through. He had not. What happened next was fatal to Greiff’s compliance efforts.

“The 2023 irrigation season was approaching. On February 13, the Conservancy Board held a meeting without telling me,” Reierson notes. “They asked for technical support about ACQ from Ecology. Herman Spangle, the liaison to the board, and his supervisor Jaime Short attended. At the end of that meeting the board voted to drop the applications completely. I only know details because I did a public records request for their emails.”

“After that, the applications went to Ecology as last resort for approval. They could have approved them in April. Instead, Ecology sat on the applications and waited Bob out, then fined him in June. Then, as if it couldn’t get worse, Ecology rejected his applications based on his noncompliance, and kept adding fines. What the hell?”

“I even sent them an email four months before that final rejection, begging them to issue the permits, not fines. It was short. I remember it saying ‘Please...Be human. Be humane.’ And here we are.”

Technical excuses are a dime a dozen, Greiff says. “It’s always the same story with the agencies and departments,” Greiff says. “They got a million reasons why I’ve done something wrong, but they don’t want to talk about the plain truth that I’m just trying to spread my water rights over my crops and that I’ve never stolen any water.”

Ecology personnel place blame for the permitting rejection on Greiff and Reierson.

“They sent us something and we reviewed it and got back to the Conservancy Board and said, ‘Hey, you don’t actually have the information you need to make this recommendation,” explains Jaime Short, Section Manager for Ecology’s Water Resource Program in the Eastern Regional Office. “Like, just the ingredients aren’t there.’”

“So, they decided, and this was all in consultation with Mr. Greiff’s consultant (Reierson), to withdraw their recommendation. He was going to get them some additional information. And then that did not occur,” Short adds. “So, eventually we kind of kicked the applications back to him because we didn’t have what we needed to process them.”

In response to Greiff’s water “violations,” Ecology levied a series of fines totaling $121,000 and placed a lien on his property.(Photo by Ray Aguirre)

Brook Beeler, Eastern Regional Director of Ecology, echoes Short: “I think the crux of the issue here is when Mr. Greiff looked at his quantity or how much he’d been using, he wanted to put it in a different place than was identified in his right. And he started to work through that process with his Conservancy Board application. And then again, following up with us.”

And that’s where we told him, ‘We do not have enough information from you to be able to make that change for you to expand your acreage or to put this water that you claim you have on additional acreage.’ … He may have had enough to do what he was attempting to do, but he didn’t share that information with us in a way where we could make that approval. Instead of working with us, he chose to ignore us and continue to irrigate illegally.”

“The only ingredient missing was Ecology as a good faith partner. It was a continual process trying to answer endless objections. Not saying all their comments were wrong but on fundamentals it was baseless. Ecology management parroted staff instead of putting them in line on the nonsense. We didn’t have time for games but it was never enough, so then it all just tasted bad. And I felt sick knowing the original approvals were completely valid and I’d fallen for a trap going along with them being withdrawn.”

In many conservation quarters, Greiff’s desire to spread his water allotment over greater acres—yet still maintain yield—would be applauded.

“Not with Ecology for Mr. Greiff,” Reierson says. “They said different, but in reality they resisted Bob’s efforts to comply. Jaime Short told me Bob didn’t have enough water rights to cover the spreading acres. Another staffer said Bob’s crop rotation explanation was ‘weak’. It’s all in their emails.”

“Bob knew how to navigate farming, but not how to navigate the hurdles they set up. Even I couldn’t navigate them. In the end it about broke me to tell Bob, ‘I can’t help you anymore, I’ve tried everything. They’re flat out against you, or me, or both.’”

Following Ecology’s rejection, Greiff turned on the water. He began irrigating the south acres. “They left an old man no choice,” Greiff says. “I’d been without water for several years because of all this craziness. So, I started irrigating south of the road—right where they said it was illegal, but that’s where I make my money and that’s where I survive. And the whole time, I never used a drop more of water than I was supposed to. Didn’t matter. They wanted to cut my pocketbook in half, at first. Now, they want my farm. Their policy is, ‘Comply or die.’”

In response to his renewed irrigation, Greiff received a succession of letters from Ecology. Each time, he wrote “Return to Sender” and dropped the unopened envelopes back in the post.

“Hell, I even got letters from the Attorney General’s office in Olympia and sent those back, too. I didn’t know what kind of threats were in them, and I didn’t care. I wasn’t stealing any water. I wasn’t looking for trouble. I just wanted to be left alone to run a farm like my father and grandfather did.”

Freeman acknowledges that no theft of water theft by Greiff was alleged. “I feel Mr. Greiff’s pain because a number of my clients in the lower Yakima Valley are dairy farmers. And the small guys are just getting roasted. And I get that Mr. Greiff is a small farmer. We never thought this was about him pulling more than his legal amount of water—just that he’s not spreading it right. This should never have developed the way it did.”

Ecology issued a cease-and-desist order in June 2023, followed by a $6,000 fine in June 2024; and a $15,000 fine in August 2024, along with a press release regarding Greiff’s irrigation, telling the public: “attempts to help Greiff comply with regulations were unsuccessful … Additional unpermitted irrigation continued.”

A year later, in September 2025, Ecology levied a $100,000 fine, along with a judgement lien obtained by the Attorney General’s Office in Spokane County Superior Court. Again, Ecology issued a press release: “For years, we’ve seen repeated violations and a disregard for bringing this property into compliance … We’ve made multiple attempts to provide technical assistance and achieve voluntary compliance, yet illegal use continues.”

However, neither of the two press releases noted that Greiff was not exceeding his water rights or stealing water. A neutral observer, lacking context, might assume Greiff was an environmental criminal. The releases also did not explain that Greiff hired professional help to comply with the law. Additionally, the releases made no mention of Ecology’s involvement with Conservancy to block approvals for Greiff.

“These public portrayals of Bob Greiff as a bad actor and bad farmer are false,” Reierson says. “I guided him through all the statutory requirements for receiving the approvals, and he did everything required. The only bad actor in this situation is the Department of Ecology. They influenced the Water Conservancy Board to help defeat Bob’s plan for compliance with the law.”

As Greiff faces the prospect of farm and legacy loss, a solution is maddeningly just out of reach. All Greiff needs to legally spread his water onto his farmland on the south side of the road is a paperwork change from Ecology. Otherwise, his water rights can only be poured onto the north side of the road.

“I wasn’t looking for trouble,” Greiff says. “I just wanted to be left alone to run a farm like my father and grandfather did.”(Photo by Ray Aguirre)

Absurd, Greiff insists. “I can’t thank Tim Reierson enough, but no matter what he did to help me and go by the book, the Department of Ecology dragged their feet. One thing for certain, this was sure as hell never about water or the environment for them. Think about it: I’m still allowed to use the exact same amount of water.”

Freeman believes Conservancy made the right call. However, his confidence doesn’t extend beyond: “I don’t know what the mechanisms were regarding what happened after we were done with our review. Is Ecology making an example out of him? I felt like if everyone could sit down in a room together, this would have gotten done, but I don’t know what happened, or how it’s gotten to this extreme point. Ecology would say they’re not being heavy-handed, but it now certainly appears that way to many people.”

“I think there are things Ecology could have done differently and things Mr. Greiff and his consultant could have done differently,” Freeman adds. “But for a situation that is supposed to only be about how Mr. Greiff is applying water to his fields to end up with a lien and potential seizure—that’s extremely surprising, and I won’t lay the blame at Mr. Greiff’s feet.”

The present impasse should never have developed, Reierson concurs. “Without Ecology’s interference, Bob’s first approval back in 2022 would have become final and he would have been irrigating just fine in 2023, 2024, and 2025—with no fines.”

“As far as correcting this it’s an easy solution because all the work’s been done. Ecology has the administrative power unilaterally, right now, to rescind its orders and fines, vacate the lien, reinstate and approve the applications. Done. It’s a safe bet they won’t do it on their own, so we’ll need a state legislator to take up the cause. Bob would welcome an independent review. Then, I think Ecology, higher up the ladder, might see the light.”

When the 2026 crop season arrives, Greiff intends to irrigate—on both sides of the road.

“We’ve been here since 1939. Come spring next year, just as my father and grandfather did, I’m going to plant like normal. And when May comes, I’m going to turn the sprinklers on again to survive wherever my crops need the water. I’ve always tried to do things right on this farm and I never dreamed my own state would treat me or anyone else like this.”

“I didn’t use a drop past my legal rights, but because I put it on the wrong field, I’m a criminal and the state wants to take everything I have,” says Greiff.(Photo by Ray Aguirre)

“I don’t believe the people in these departments know what irrigation, yield, crops, or rotation are,” Greiff insists. “It’s a big secret that no one is supposed to say: They don’t understand what farming is.”

Will Ecology shut down Greiff’s operation? “We can’t certainly speak for, you know, what lies ahead for him and how he continues to operate his farm or as a producer,” says Director Beeler. “I will say if he continues to illegally irrigate those acres, I think we have to, we have to look at what tools do we have left in our toolbox to again ensure compliance.”

“The state wants people to think I’m an outlaw,” Greiff concludes. “They don’t want people to know the true story. If they want to destroy a farmer because he put his water on unapproved acres, then I’m not gonna run and hide. Here I am. Here I will be.”

2 posted on 01/07/2026 7:01:05 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)

If he had blue hair and was growing marijuana, they’d be throwing money at him instead.

Wicked tyrants. I prayed that an army of Warriors would come to his defense inside and outside of our government

Washington State is an absolute joke. The nutcases have destroyed the great state of Washington. Someone needs to step in and stop this sham!

And a strange story too

I didn’t use a drop past my legal rights, but because *I put it on the wrong field* ?????????.

Watering what for who?

I think Director Beeler needs to be forced to grow his own food under the same regulations he cites. If he lives through the next year on what he grows himself, he can then start out as an underling and try to work his way back to director.

11 posted on 01/07/2026 7:09:17 AM PST by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)

Bump to the Top.

Excellent article, well worth our time to read.

12 posted on 01/07/2026 7:10:32 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)

Looks like a land grab.

No wonder that part of Washington State wants to join Idaho, their uber lefty statehouse does not represent their interests and, in fact, is trying to make life as difficult as possible for them.

“There is a movement in Eastern Washington advocating for the region to join Idaho, driven by political, economic, and cultural differences with Western Washington. Proponents argue that particularly in agriculture, and the state policies made in Olympia do not reflect their needs.”

17 posted on 01/07/2026 7:41:56 AM PST by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)

What does the state want to do with the land? I get the impression from he story that the state wants the land, without saying so nor offering to buy it, and Ecology’s actions against Greiff are meant to break him to get it.

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