In response to $35 million in clean water and open space referenda being cut from the state budget, state Rep. Donna Walsh, D-Charlestown, has proposed restoring a $5-million bond referendum for preserving farmland.

Walsh, whose district alsoincludes areas in Block Island, South Kingstown and Westerly, said the recently passed federal farm bill will allocate $4 million to $6 million a year to Rhode Island, but “these funds will be lost unless matched by this bond issue.”

The House Finance Committee last week cut $35 million in bond proposals. A referendum for $5 million would have gone for open space, farmland preservation and recreational development. One for $30 million would have helped communities reduce stormwater runoff and upgrade their sewer plants.

Removing the $5 million, Walsh said, will effectively shut down the state’s farmland protection program, which has been buying development rights since 1985.

The state’s farmland protection waiting list includes 88 acres for horses and hay at Belvidere Stable in Charlestown, 70 acres in turf at Albert Turf Farm in Exeter, 50 acres in vegetables at Carpenter’s Farm in South Kingstown and 137 acres in vegetables at Manfredi Farms in Westerly.

According to a chart on the Department of Environmental Management Web site, since 1985, the state has preserved 79 farms by buying the development rights to 5,668 acres.