Weld County declares water ‘disaster emergency’

The Weld County Commission declared overflowing groundwater wells a “disaster emergency” at its meeting Monday.

The county is asking Gov. John Hickenlooper to allow the pumping of restricted irrigation wells for a month. The commission’s unanimous declaration follows a meeting last week during which farmers complained that they faced a water shortage as wells teemed with water.

The wells currently are shut down to protect senior water rights though they have flooded basements and drowned crops. A meager snowpack and dry weather have put the county’s farmers in danger of suffering crop losses.

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“We have only a short window of time available to try to avert an agricultural disaster here in Weld County,” commission Chairman Sean Conway said. “The best guess is we have between one to two weeks to get the wells turned on in order to save this year’s crop.”

The county’s declaration represents the latest step by elected officials to encourage Hickenlooper to declare a state of emergency.

State Sen. President Brandon Shaffer wrote Hickenlooper last week asking the governor to immediately overrule the stay prohibiting the use of the wells for watering grain and vegetable crops.

“Crops that were planted in good faith will wither to the ground and cause enormous economic loss for these growers and for all the allied industries that supply and market these products,” Shaffer said. “When our friends and neighbors are hurting and when we can provide them a solution, it is unconscionable that we do not take action.”

In May, Hickenlooper signed a bill into law that authorized a study of the situation.