COLORADO WATER RESOURCES & AGRICULTURE

MICHAEL G PAUL

TSM 352

THE PROBLEM

• Since the 1990’s Colorado has increased their population by 30%

• The continued popularity of the state as a tourist destination have encouraged Colorado residents and farmers to voice concern about their long term water needs.

• Few public officials have tried to limit this continued growth

• Is it realistic to encourage continued population growth if Colorado water supplies are so limited?

PROBLEM CONTINUED

• Surface Water supplies the majority of Colorado’s Water Supply

• Limited Opportunities to develop or create additional storage sites for water

• Ground-water supplies approximately 18% of water needs

• 19/63 of the State’s counties are ENTIRELY dependent on ground water

• 90% of ground-water withdrawals in Colorado are agriculturally related

*Although ground water is a renewable resource, it is not always available in the quantity needed, particularly in periods of drought. Therefore, wise water-management practices and enlightened conservation practices are needed as the State plans for the future.

GROUND WATER

• Ground water occurs as water fills pore spaces beneath the surface (Zone of Saturation)

• 81% of precipitation that falls in Colorado returns to the atmosphere through either Evaporation or Transpiration

• The remainder of the precipitation enters the subsurface through infiltration

PROBLEMS WITH RELIABLE WATER SOURCES

WATER RIGHTS IN COLORADO

• Commercial, municipal , and irrigation wells are considered to have “Junior Water Rights”

• This means that households and domestic areas are exempt from shutoff during times of drought

• With increasing population numbers this means a danger of shortage of water for agriculture

• During the drought of 2002, Winter Wheat, the most widely planted crop in Colorado production fell by nearly 30%. Most farmers decided to adjust their acreage and abandon their growing crops.

Lake DeWeese in 2002

KANSAS RIVER COMPACT OF 1949

• In 1996, Colorado lost a lawsuit when the State of Kansas claimed the water wells along the Arkansas river had deprived Kansas of water that was guaranteed for them in the Kansas River Compact

• The Supreme Court voted in favor of Kansas and Colorado was ordered to give up the water wells

• This deprived Colorado of pumping at the location 1,000 gallons of water per minute, 72 hours each week. Over 4,300,000 gallons per week!

SOLUTIONS

• Colorado’s Governor John Hickenlooper addresses the issue stating, “The pressure to take water from agricultural use to meet municipal needs threatens the agricultural economy and the viability of our rural communities”

- The Governor intends to make policies restricting “buy-and-dry” practices that dry-up usable farmland

• Promotion of market-driven models where agricultural land is leased from farmers on a rotational basis during the dry years is also a policy that is being discussed.

- This model would be put in place not only to compensate the farm/ranch for lost income but help resolve municipal water demands.

• Increasing the amount of Water Storage Facilities or creating larger ones is another policy being contemplated by Colorado policy makers

QUESTIONS?

REFERENCES

Barkmann, Peter, 2002. “Ground Water Resources in the Time of Drought.” Colorado Geological Survey, ROCKTALK, webpageDrenner. Nora. 2006. “Round Mountain IDs three critical problems.” Wet Mountain Tribune, webpage

Gilluly, James, A. C. Waters, and A. O. Woodford. 1959. Principles of Geology, second edition, W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, webpage