GREELEY, Colo.—Farmers who own wells along the South Platte River won’t know until March or April how much water they might be able to pump, if at all, an attorney told farmers and ranchers Tuesday.
Judge Roger Klein earlier this month issued a 101-page ruling that could allow about 215 of the 440 wells shut down last year to begin pumping water.
“The plan remains viable, and I believe the wells can pump next year,” said Andy Jones, an attorney who represented the Well Augmentation Subdistrict of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District in a four-week trial last spring.
About 250 people attended a meeting at the Events Center in Island Grove Regional Park to examine Klein’s ruling.
Jones said the subdistrict won “must-win issues,” but lost in the area of winter water storage of the South Platte and in how much water drawn by the wells must be replaced in the river. Klein ruled that some well owners must replace 100 percent of the water they depleted from the river for three years 2003 through 2005, and in some cases, replace water from the time the wells were first put into operation.
The wells in northeastern Colorado were ordered shut down when holders of senior water rights successfully argued that the wells were illegally drawing down the river.
Many of the wells irrigate about 30,000 acres of prime cropland in Adams, Weld, and Morgan counties, with the majority in Weld.
Jones said Klein might conduct a hearing in December or January to resolve remaining issues, that include objections from senior water rights holders. He hopes that Klein rules in time to allow farmers to develop planting plans for the spring, otherwise some cropland could go idle.
“What we’ve done is created a structure to allow the wells to pump,” Jones said.
He said it is likely the subdistrict and objectors will appeal Klein’s final ruling to the Colorado Supreme Court.
For decades, the state engineer was able to juggle the state’s water supply to keep farmers happy and the South Platte flowing, but a severe drought starting in 2002 intensified the battle. Last year, after most crops were planted, the state engineer ordered the shutdown of wells from Brighton to Wiggins along the South Platte River. They’ve been idle since.
The Colorado Supreme Court last year upheld a 1969 law requiring well owners to put water back into the South Platte. The courts also ruled that the water courts, not the state engineer, should decide water issues.
State lawmakers Rep. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton, and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, said they’re looking at legislation that grew out of Gov. Bill Ritter’s South Platte River Task Force, with Riesberg warning that only 10 or 15 members of the Legislature know or understand water issues.
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Information from: Greeley Tribune,
