To discourage appears to be about as far as the San Juan County Council is willing to go.

The council on Tuesday agreed the goals and policies of the Water Element of the Comprehensive Plan should “discourage” against taking water from agricultural resource lands, transporting it and then putting it to use in some other type of land-use category.

The council came up one vote shy, however, of prohibiting such a transfer of water outright. That prohibition, proposed by Councilwoman Lovel Pratt, South San Juan, and backed by councilmen Gene Knapp and Bob Myhr, failed to earn enough votes to be included as part of the pending update of the Water Element as the council ended up deadlocked in a 3-3 tie. In a 3-2 decision, with Myhr abstaining, the council also rejected a proposal by Pratt in which a request to use the public right-of-way for such a transfer of water would be automatically denied.

The Water Element will be back before the council April 27 for a final decision.

Council Chairman Richard Fralick, Orcas West, said that keeping water resources intact to protect farmland is a laudable goal. There are circumstances, however, in which he noted that the transfer of water can benefit farmers, as well as others, without putting the future of the farm in question in jeopardy. Fralick added the council has the authority to approve or reject an application for use of the public right-of-way in its powers over “franchise agreements.” In addition, he noted that the blanket prohibition was opposed by the county Water Resources Management Committee.