Irrigation woes hang over spring planting season

GREELEY – A judge in Division 1 Water Court in Greeley will decide if a plan by the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District’s Water Augmentation Subdistrict can get water pumping again in wells shut down along the South Platte River.

But even a favorable ruling will likely not come in time to rescue well-based irrigators from another year of ongoing drought in the region.

Judge Roger Klein will make a ruling on the plan, which was presented by the district’s attorneys and attacked by a coalition of objectors during a month-long trial that ended May 3. The testimony included dueling studies by both sides as to the plan’s viability in restoring pumping rights to well owners in the river basin while not injuring the more senior rights of cities, ditch companies and other affected parties.

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Klein’s ruling is likely to take several weeks, a prospect that decreases the likelihood of about 200 farming operations dependent on well water from harvesting a crop this year, even if the judge rules in their favor.

If that happens, it would be the second year in a row that well-dependent farmers have not had enough water to grow crops – a situation that will be devastating to some.

Don Jones, a former president of Morgan County Economic Development Corp., who farms his own land and manages land for others, said he doesn’t hold much hope for a positive outcome from water court.

“I think it’s pretty much a farce as to how that will come out,” he said. “We’re going to lose the 2007 planting season, thank you, Judge Klein. We’re part of Colorado out here, too, but we just keep getting screwed.”

Wells shut down last year

In May of last year, the state engineer ordered 440 irrigation wells along the South Platte River in Weld, Adams, Morgan and Logan counties shut down after senior water rights holders complained that the well owners, who hold junior rights, were depleting the river. They claimed the well owners were not restoring water they had removed from the basin for crop irrigation as Colorado law requires.

The shutdown order came after many well owners had already purchased seed and fertilizer and were in the process of raising crops that they had planned to irrigate with water from the wells. Last summer was the fifth year of a continuing drought, a situation that’s brought Colorado’s water law into sharp focus, as ag and municipal interests line up against each other for a precious commodity even in a wet year.

In response to the well shutdown, the CCWCD filed a water replacement plan, which now awaits Judge Klein’s ruling. The plan includes lease agreements, new water purchases and increased water storage that the district contends would replace water removed by well owners. The plan also reduced the number of wells sought for re-pumping from 440 to 200.

But objectors to the plan, including the cities of Boulder and Sterling on opposite ends of the South Platte, say the plan isn’t realistic and question its sustainability.

“It’s not realistic – none of this is real,´ said Brad Benning, attorney for the city of Sterling, referring to projections offered by the district. “An augmentation plan is not a substitute for a water replacement plan.”

Going beyond court

Well owners and their supporters have not limited their efforts to getting a favorable decision from water court. On March 22, the Morgan County Economic Development Corp. hosted a public meeting that brought Gov. Bill Ritter and other state leaders to Wiggins to hear about the well situation and its impact on the region’s economy.

Ritter told the crowd of about 700 that he would pursue the matter although he could not issue an executive order to allow the wells to resume pumping. However, the governor did set into motion the creation of a special task force to study the conflicting water issues and come up with recommendations for a system that might offer something for all water users.

Cathy Shull, executive director of Progressive 15, a group formed in 2001 that calls itself the “unified voice of Northern Colorado,´ said she’s hopeful the task force can make a difference for the region. “We can only wait and see,” she said. “Our role is to keep telling people how important it is and hold people’s feet to the fire.”

Progressive 15’s membership includes cities, counties, organizations and individuals in a 15-county area of northeastern Colorado, including Larimer, Weld and Adams counties.

The task force will include three state legislators, Reps. Kathleen Curry (D-Gunnison) and Mary Hodge (D-Brighton) and Sen. Brandon Shaffer (D-Longmont), along with Harris Sherman, Colorado Department of Natural Resources executive director, and state Agricultural Commissioner John Stulp.

The task force is expected to begin its work soon, now that the General Assembly has ended its session. Curry said a solution to the problem, which pits thirsty cities against farmers’ livelihoods, won’t come easily.

“I know we can’t fix the entire water problem immediately,´ said Curry, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee. “But I am committed to doing everything we can, turning over every rock as we look for long-term solutions to this long-term problem.”

Shaffer said he believes “all options should be on the table” to “come up with systemic reform that is long-term.”

“The difficult part is to get there it takes time and those farmers need help today,” he added.

Shaffer, who lives in Boulder County, said he believes he can bring an effective role to the task force. “I’ve certainly heard my share of animosity directed toward the city of Boulder,” he said. “I think I’m in an ideal position to try to broker some kind of deal. But my sympathy goes to the farmers on the plains and not with the cities.”

Reform ideas floated

Some ideas to ease the water crunch that have been floated so far include imposing a moratorium on well shutoffs while the task force works out a solution, streamlining the state’s water court system so it doesn’t take years to settle disputes and returning control of the state’s water system from the court to the state engineer.

Progressive 15’s Shull said she’d like to see the state engineer back in the driver’s seat. “When control was with the state engineer it was a much more streamlined process. A lot of farmers say they have to wait five years to get an augmentation plan approved, and that is not acceptable.”

One thing’s certain: Northern Colorado is not going to give up its fight to keep local farmers who rely on well irrigation from going under and, in turn, having a negative impact on the region’s rural communities.

“We’re not going to let it go away,” Shull said. “We know hard choices are going to have to be made. But we need to do that so our part of the state is not completely destroyed because of water issues.”

A 2006 Colorado State University economic impact study of four river basins in Colorado – including the South Platte – showed the value of agricultural products and services in Weld, Adams, Morgan, Elbert and Arapahoe counties in 2002 amounted to $2.1 billion.

But some farmers are already going out of business or facing foreclosure because of the ongoing drought and strict enforcement of the state’s water laws. Farmers like Morgan County’s Don Jones say something has to be done to prevent the kind of agricultural “dry-up” that has already been seen in the Arkansas River basin, where the cities of Colorado Springs and Aurora in particular have bought up water rights and huge swaths of former farmland, reducing irrigated agriculture along the river by 43 percent since 1982.

Jones said the same thing appears to be happening along the South Platte. “(The cities) are attempting to drive enough people out of business so they can acquire those water rights,” he said. “We need something that’s not weighted toward the Front Range.”

Greg Hertzke, water acquisitions manager for the CCWCD, said the district remains hopeful for some good news for the region’s well-irrigated farms and the communities that rely on their buying power.

“We’re hoping that a good discussion is had on both sides and, if nothing else, a good realization of what the problem is and some notion of fairness from the state,” he said. “I think the goal is to figure out ways to use our state’s water for the benefit of all partners.”

Hertzke said one special irony of the situation is the record corn prices that await those who can get in a good crop this year due to the explosion of interest in ethanol and biofuels.

“(Farmers) just can’t believe how good corn prices are but they can’t get in their fields to plant it,” he said.