Some northern Colorado farmers who had their groundwater pumps shut off last summer will try to convince a state panel this week that they’re not drawing down the South Platte River.
The farmers, who operate about 400 wells in Weld, Adams, Arapahoe and Elbert counties, claim that their pumping doesn’t harm the river because they are tapping an underground aquifer that has very little connection to the surface water.
They are asking the Colorado Ground Water Commission to designate about 300,000 acres as a groundwater basin, which would lift the state requirement that they come up with plans to replace the river water they take.
“For some of these farmers, this is really their last chance to save their farms,” said Tom Cech, director of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, one of the proposal’s primary backers.
There are several ditch companies, cities and major water providers, however, lining up to fight the farmers’ proposal to designate the Box Elder Creek groundwater basin. Aurora, Greeley, Sterling, Denver Water, and Denver International Airport are among those opposed.
Some river users believe the farmers’ groundwater pumping does deplete the South Platte, while others simply don’t want to live under the regulatory scheme a groundwater designation would create.
“What we have seen from the evidence is that these wells are currently depleting about 15,000 acre feet of water and we expect that to be a continuing ongoing process,” said Tim Buchanan, an Arvada attorney representing two ditch companies.
Still, some of the farmers pressing for the designation say their pumping has little to no effect on the South Platte River and don’t feel like they should pay for costly augmentation plans to prove it.
Bill Coyle is a Bennett farmer who irrigates about 94 acres of his sod farm from groundwater wells about 60 miles from the river.
He estimates he has paid more than $100,000 in recent years to water attorneys and engineers to come up with his augmentation plans.
Still, each year he worries his wells will be cut off.
“Farming is a hard business to be in because you always worry about the weather,” Coyle said. “But then to throw those worries into the equation, it’s tough.”
Last summer, State Engineer Hal Simpson turned off the pumps of hundreds of wells after the farmers failed to prove in water court they could replace their groundwater withdrawals.
While many of the farmers lost their crops, others continued to pump anyway, prompting Simpson to take them to court again.
But that wasn’t before some of the river users hired private investigators to keep an eye on the pumping scofflaws, creating outrage through several northern plains farm communities.
Buchanan said he doubts the saga will be over at the conclusion of state groundwater commission hearings, either.
“I would like to say this is a last ditch effort from these farmers, but I really don’t think they have any regard for senior water users,” he said.
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-954-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.
