FORT LUPTON, 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.
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.
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.
