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(2007 floods in Centralia/Chehalis, photo courtesy of Nate Ritter)

There was widespread flooding throughout the Pacific Northwest last week, as dramatic rainstorms followed on the heels of the record snowfalls that closed out 2008. This is the third consecutive winter to bring major floods to the valleys holding much of the region’s agricultural land.

Fortunately, many farmers who suffered losses the past few years were able to escape unscathed this time around. The managers of the Ballard Farmers’ Market, Seattle’s largest winter market, reported that not a single farmers was absent this past Sunday because of the flooding. Willie Greens Farm, the CSA that I use, missed the last few weeks of 2008 because of ice and snow but they were able to deliver this week–several hours late–after waiting for flooded roadways to clear. They’d lost five of their greenhouses under the weight of recent snows, so this delivery felt like a small miracle.

The folks at Boistfort Valley Farm, near the Chehalis River, lost their house and much of their equipment during the 2007 floods. This time the river crested just twelve inches from their yard. At Full Circle Farm, near Carnation, the manager and several workers spent the night as the river rose, moving vulnerable stock and equipment to higher ground. They lost very little of their winter crop, which they mostly plant at a higher altitude. It helped that the weather reports were fairly accurate, and the conditions (heavy snow followed by heavy rain) were similar to the ones that unleashed the floods last winter, which were still fresh in everyone’s minds.

There’s nothing terribly surprising about flooding in an area that’s a designated flood plain. But the damage has been particularly dramatic during recent years due to increased residential development, and also because the weather events seem to be growing more severe, or at least more frequent. As of late 2007, King County implemented a policy allowing nature to take its course, as far as flooding is concerned. This means, among other things, restricting further development in flood plains and giving the rivers extra room to flood. It also means, on some level, accepting the fact that flooding is inevitable.

Historically, flooding has been an important factor in the development of agriculture. The ancient lands of Egypt and Mesopotamia gave rise to some of the earliest sophisticated civilizations in part because of their proximity to rivers that periodically flooded, leaving enough silt to create unusually fertile soil. But when modern rivers flood they leave unwanted residues, such as runoff from manure on neighboring fields, and toxins from heavy metals. Organic farmers run the risk of losing their certification if their land and crops are contaminated by substances in the water.

Food safety regulations forbid farmers from selling any crops that were in the ground when a field was flooded. We can at least be grateful that our peak flood season falls during the slower part of our agricultural year.

Devra Gartenstein is the owner of Seattle’s Patty Pan Grill and the author of two cookbooks, Local Bounty: Vegan Seasonal Produce and The Accidental Vegan. She also blogs at The Quirky Gourmet.

flooding, pacific northwest, farming