Some Eastern Plains farmers won’t be able to irrigate vegetables and other crops this summer, even as most Front Range city dwellers can keep watering their lawns.
State engineer Hal Simpson, chief administrator of Colorado’s water rights system, has told about 200 northeastern Colorado farmers they can’t use 440 of their wells this summer. They’re the losers in an unavoidable and complex interaction of water law and hydrology, but farmers complain justifiably that the decision will ruin their crops. Gov. Bill Owens has tried to relieve the economic losses by declaring a state of emergency in the area, making farmers eligible for federal aid, but his laudable move won’t put one extra drop in the South Platte River.
In eastern Colorado, groundwater is tied to surface water – so in dry spells like this one, wells that tap into groundwater draw down the Platte.
Colorado law says that water rights filed at the earliest date have priority over other claims – and on the Platte, surface water rights are senior to groundwater claims. So, farmers and cities that take water directly from the river have priority over farmers that use groundwater. Simpson thus told farmers with junior rights to stop pumping groundwater. A state water court this week upheld his decision.
A similar problem arose during 2002’s intense drought, when Simpson had to issue a stop-pumping order late in the growing season. In 2003, Simpson, then-Attorney General Ken Salazar and the legislature worked out a three-year deal that let farmers with wells maintain their crops. The deal expired this year, just as drought returned.
It’s not just farmers vs. cities, as farmers who rely on surface water could lose their crops if Simpson didn’t enforce the law.
But several Front Range cities have very senior rights, so get first dibs on the Platte. Thanks to plentiful mountain snows, Denver and most suburbs this spring lifted mandatory lawn-watering restrictions for the first time in years. But just because city dwellers can keep their grass green doesn’t mean they should.
If there’s more water in the South Platte, perhaps some groundwater wells could be used this summer. Aurora already is studying whether it can send additional (cleaned- up) wastewater to downstream farmers. Aurora’s own reservoirs are lower than those of neighboring cities, but it doesn’t re-use the effluent anyway.
The Denver Water Board, other cities and water districts should also see if they can voluntarily cut back on use, slightly draw down reservoirs or lease some rights, in an attempt to let more water flow to northeastern Colorado. It’s not clear that such voluntary measures would help, but the idea is worth exploring.
