Colorado growers crushed by water ruling
Colorado growers crushed by water ruling
Upwards of 200 farmers on Colorado's Eastern Plains are facing the 2006 growing season with limited water resources or, in some cases, with no resources at all following the June 3 rejection of an emergency augmentation plan proposed by the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District.
But while estimates place the losses at more than $1 million as a result of the ruling, some of the farmers are implementing their own augmentation programs in an effort to keep their crops irrigated this year.
David Petrocco of Brighton, CO, and Harry Strohauer of La Salle, CO, are among those who have begun private proceedings after learning of the rejection.
Mr. Petrocco said June 5 that the rejection was "something I never expected," and he said that it had "put me deeply in debt."
He went on to say, "I've hired a water attorney and engineer to my own water augmentation program and will go about it on my own behalf to rent or purchase water."
On June 6, Mr. Strohauer said he had also begun his own augmentation plan.
"We have water attorneys and an engineering firm working on it," he said.
At Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, Operations Manager Randy Ray told The Produce News June 5 that as the district worked to inform its members "so they understand what this means," District Manager Tom Cech and board members were planning a trip to Washington, DC.
"We want to get the office of the president informed and secure some federal aid," Mr. Ray said.
He said that the district is also re-running annual projections to present to the state's water court in February.
"We're looking at limited or zero pumping [on the 450 wells] for a few years," Mr. Ray said.
Each of those contacted said that the June 3 announcement was unexpected, and Mr. Ray said that he was "very shocked" by Boulder and the other entities' refusal to approve the emergency augmentation measure.
However, he said that after reflecting on the matter, he decided, "Their whole intention was to turn the wells off."
Referring to Colorado water rights, Mr. Ray continued, "The wells were drilled to be storage vessels, and there are several million acre feet of water in the aquifer from Julesberg [in northeast Colorado] to Denver. We need to review how we calculate appropriations or take the wells out altogether. Ground water and surface water don't mix."
Some farmers do have both, with Messrs. Petrocco and Strohauer relying on surface water sources they have in addition to their affected wells, and they continue to farm as the private augmentation plans are drawn up.
Without any surface water to draw from, grower Robert Geisick of Wiggins said that he has 18 wells total, "and 13 of them are shut down."
Mr. Geisick said that he is not pursuing a private augmentation plan but instead has cut back in his planted acreage, and he is seeing substantial losses as well.
"We normally farm 2,500 acres of shell corn and 200 acres of onions," Mr. Geisick said. This year he has 65 acres of onions and 1,000 acres of corn under irrigation and another 133 acres of onions at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Mr. Geisick and the other 200 growers had hoped the emergency plan, which called for the purchase of some 10,000 acre-feet of water from Colorado's Western Slope, would offset a decision by the state water engineer, Hal Simpson, to shut down nearly 450 irrigation wells from Brighton to Fort Morgan along the Front Range.
Mr. Simpson's announcement came on May 8, and on May 12, Central, whose Water Augmentation Subdistrict members were most affected by the shutdown, had made contact with the Windy Gap Project on the Western Slope.
By May 20, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, overseer of the Western Slope reservoirs, agreed to transfer up to 10,000 acre-feet of water, and pumping actually began.
That effort, which all parties agreed was stop-gap only for 2006, was projected to cost Central District members an estimated $650,000, and even though water was being physically moved, the measure still needed approval from the cities of Boulder and Sterling as well as the Henrylyn Irrigation District north of Denver and the Centennial Water & Sanitation District south of Denver.
According to Central, the augmentation plan involved approximately 30,000 acres, 12,000 of which rely exclusively on wells. The Windy Gap Proposal would allow the WAS members to pump 15 percent of their quota and would further protect senior water rights.
It also provided "an opportunity for municipal and agricultural water manager to work together in order to solve an immediate crisis," Central information said.
Ultimately, the approval was denied on June 2, which was three weeks after Colorado Gov. Bill Owens declared a state of emergency to make up to $1 million aid available to affected farmers. Gov. Owens' concern was shared by U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) and U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), both of whom petitioned President Bush for federal aid.
On June 6, four days after the emergency augmentation plan was denied, Gov. Owens signed a $26.5 million economic development package, which provides $19 million for tourism.
The state will jump to seventh from 35th in tourism ad dollars with the monetary boost, and among the tourism beneficiaries is the Colorado State Fair, which will receive $550,000 annually.
While it ranked 35th in tourism ad dollars, Colorado has consistently ranked high in fruit and vegetable production. In 2002, the state was seventh in cabbage production, seventh in cantaloupe, fourth in carrots, sixth in sweet corn, third in lettuce, fifth in storage onions and fourth in spinach. It also ranked 24th in apples, eighth in both tart cherries and peaches, and sixth in pears.
It was fourth in production of all potatoes and third in summer potatoes.
Mr. Petrocco's four major crops are cabbage, storage onions, leaf lettuce and bunched greens, and Mr. Strohauer produces russets, Yukon Golds, reds and specialty potatoes. Mr. Geisick grows onions.
"My family has been farming [in the Brighton area] for 95 years, and I'm not going to let it end now," Mr. Petrocco said.
All three men said that they were surprised by the rejection, with Mr. Petrocco noting, "It was a situation where, this year in particular, it would have worked out in the best interest of both sides. I'm very disappointed in what's happened. There was a ray of hope, and it's an extremely disappointing situation now."
A farmer himself for 31 years, Mr. Strohauer said that his father and uncle started their farm in the Greeley-La Salle area in 1930. "We have a total of 3,000 acres, with potatoes and onions on 750," he said. Of his 40 wells, 14 are affected.
Most troubling to him is the fate of his organic fingerlings, which are planted on 25 acres that were irrigated under the Central augmentation district.
"The organics are destined for a couple of retailers," Mr. Strohauer said.
He said that a private augmentation plan was "a minimum of 45 days out from getting approved, and we're doing everything possible to keep a viable crop. We'll do whatever is necessary, and we intend to have organics for our customers."
Mr. Geisick said, "It's going to be tough to farm this year. We were assessed $84,000 by Central, and we got nothing out of it. We have $100,000 invested in our onion crop on the other 133 acres that will dry up." He added that his property has been rendered "worthless."
Mr. Geisick went on to say, "It's pretty amazing how important it is for [the cities] to use all that water on their lawns. How does a farm 100 miles downstream from Boulder affect them?"
And he said, "I have two sons, 25 and 22, and they would have loved to farm, but we're pushing them to do other things. After all, the people in the cities will just go to the grocery story to get their food."
Describing an interview he did recently with a Wyoming television station, Mr. Strohauer said he was asked if his 10-year-old son would go into farming. "Why would I do that to my son?" he asked. "This state does not want agriculture," Mr. Strohauer said. "It's getting exactly what it wants, and it doesn't want farms."
But while estimates place the losses at more than $1 million as a result of the ruling, some of the farmers are implementing their own augmentation programs in an effort to keep their crops irrigated this year.
David Petrocco of Brighton, CO, and Harry Strohauer of La Salle, CO, are among those who have begun private proceedings after learning of the rejection.
Mr. Petrocco said June 5 that the rejection was "something I never expected," and he said that it had "put me deeply in debt."
He went on to say, "I've hired a water attorney and engineer to my own water augmentation program and will go about it on my own behalf to rent or purchase water."
On June 6, Mr. Strohauer said he had also begun his own augmentation plan.
"We have water attorneys and an engineering firm working on it," he said.
At Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, Operations Manager Randy Ray told The Produce News June 5 that as the district worked to inform its members "so they understand what this means," District Manager Tom Cech and board members were planning a trip to Washington, DC.
"We want to get the office of the president informed and secure some federal aid," Mr. Ray said.
He said that the district is also re-running annual projections to present to the state's water court in February.
"We're looking at limited or zero pumping [on the 450 wells] for a few years," Mr. Ray said.
Each of those contacted said that the June 3 announcement was unexpected, and Mr. Ray said that he was "very shocked" by Boulder and the other entities' refusal to approve the emergency augmentation measure.
However, he said that after reflecting on the matter, he decided, "Their whole intention was to turn the wells off."
Referring to Colorado water rights, Mr. Ray continued, "The wells were drilled to be storage vessels, and there are several million acre feet of water in the aquifer from Julesberg [in northeast Colorado] to Denver. We need to review how we calculate appropriations or take the wells out altogether. Ground water and surface water don't mix."
Some farmers do have both, with Messrs. Petrocco and Strohauer relying on surface water sources they have in addition to their affected wells, and they continue to farm as the private augmentation plans are drawn up.
Without any surface water to draw from, grower Robert Geisick of Wiggins said that he has 18 wells total, "and 13 of them are shut down."
Mr. Geisick said that he is not pursuing a private augmentation plan but instead has cut back in his planted acreage, and he is seeing substantial losses as well.
"We normally farm 2,500 acres of shell corn and 200 acres of onions," Mr. Geisick said. This year he has 65 acres of onions and 1,000 acres of corn under irrigation and another 133 acres of onions at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Mr. Geisick and the other 200 growers had hoped the emergency plan, which called for the purchase of some 10,000 acre-feet of water from Colorado's Western Slope, would offset a decision by the state water engineer, Hal Simpson, to shut down nearly 450 irrigation wells from Brighton to Fort Morgan along the Front Range.
Mr. Simpson's announcement came on May 8, and on May 12, Central, whose Water Augmentation Subdistrict members were most affected by the shutdown, had made contact with the Windy Gap Project on the Western Slope.
By May 20, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, overseer of the Western Slope reservoirs, agreed to transfer up to 10,000 acre-feet of water, and pumping actually began.
That effort, which all parties agreed was stop-gap only for 2006, was projected to cost Central District members an estimated $650,000, and even though water was being physically moved, the measure still needed approval from the cities of Boulder and Sterling as well as the Henrylyn Irrigation District north of Denver and the Centennial Water & Sanitation District south of Denver.
According to Central, the augmentation plan involved approximately 30,000 acres, 12,000 of which rely exclusively on wells. The Windy Gap Proposal would allow the WAS members to pump 15 percent of their quota and would further protect senior water rights.
It also provided "an opportunity for municipal and agricultural water manager to work together in order to solve an immediate crisis," Central information said.
Ultimately, the approval was denied on June 2, which was three weeks after Colorado Gov. Bill Owens declared a state of emergency to make up to $1 million aid available to affected farmers. Gov. Owens' concern was shared by U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) and U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), both of whom petitioned President Bush for federal aid.
On June 6, four days after the emergency augmentation plan was denied, Gov. Owens signed a $26.5 million economic development package, which provides $19 million for tourism.
The state will jump to seventh from 35th in tourism ad dollars with the monetary boost, and among the tourism beneficiaries is the Colorado State Fair, which will receive $550,000 annually.
While it ranked 35th in tourism ad dollars, Colorado has consistently ranked high in fruit and vegetable production. In 2002, the state was seventh in cabbage production, seventh in cantaloupe, fourth in carrots, sixth in sweet corn, third in lettuce, fifth in storage onions and fourth in spinach. It also ranked 24th in apples, eighth in both tart cherries and peaches, and sixth in pears.
It was fourth in production of all potatoes and third in summer potatoes.
Mr. Petrocco's four major crops are cabbage, storage onions, leaf lettuce and bunched greens, and Mr. Strohauer produces russets, Yukon Golds, reds and specialty potatoes. Mr. Geisick grows onions.
"My family has been farming [in the Brighton area] for 95 years, and I'm not going to let it end now," Mr. Petrocco said.
All three men said that they were surprised by the rejection, with Mr. Petrocco noting, "It was a situation where, this year in particular, it would have worked out in the best interest of both sides. I'm very disappointed in what's happened. There was a ray of hope, and it's an extremely disappointing situation now."
A farmer himself for 31 years, Mr. Strohauer said that his father and uncle started their farm in the Greeley-La Salle area in 1930. "We have a total of 3,000 acres, with potatoes and onions on 750," he said. Of his 40 wells, 14 are affected.
Most troubling to him is the fate of his organic fingerlings, which are planted on 25 acres that were irrigated under the Central augmentation district.
"The organics are destined for a couple of retailers," Mr. Strohauer said.
He said that a private augmentation plan was "a minimum of 45 days out from getting approved, and we're doing everything possible to keep a viable crop. We'll do whatever is necessary, and we intend to have organics for our customers."
Mr. Geisick said, "It's going to be tough to farm this year. We were assessed $84,000 by Central, and we got nothing out of it. We have $100,000 invested in our onion crop on the other 133 acres that will dry up." He added that his property has been rendered "worthless."
Mr. Geisick went on to say, "It's pretty amazing how important it is for [the cities] to use all that water on their lawns. How does a farm 100 miles downstream from Boulder affect them?"
And he said, "I have two sons, 25 and 22, and they would have loved to farm, but we're pushing them to do other things. After all, the people in the cities will just go to the grocery story to get their food."
Describing an interview he did recently with a Wyoming television station, Mr. Strohauer said he was asked if his 10-year-old son would go into farming. "Why would I do that to my son?" he asked. "This state does not want agriculture," Mr. Strohauer said. "It's getting exactly what it wants, and it doesn't want farms."
