Article by Marcia Darnell
Water – February 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
WHAT IF THEY GAVE a water summit and everyone came? They’d need a bigger facility, for sure.
About 400 people attended the Jan. 10 water conference in Alamosa, titled “Conservation, Conversation, Problem Solving.” About the same number were turned away for lack of seating (or lack of planning). The crowd was mostly of the farmer/rancher variety, meaning Carson Auditorium was awash in booted, blue-jeaned males.
The Rio Grande Water Conservation District organized the summit, but didn’t anticipate such a large turnout. Both the hall and the registration process were inadequate, which made everyone grumpy, especially those standing in the back of the room. The registration mess made things start late, too.
Ray Wright of the RGWCD welcomed the crowd and cautioned us that we’d hear no solutions to the water shortage that were “quick, easy or cheap,” or a “business as usual” point of view. He also asked us not to lay blame on one another for the current problem.
Steve Vandiver, the Division III engineer and self-described Rio Grande “Compact junkie,” started the day off with a grim picture. The problem is not the drought, but water usage, he said. The aquifers, which are designed to be stable even in dry years, are declining. He broadly implied that expansion and progressive farming techniques — I.e., growing more stuff with more water — are “killing the goose that laid the golden egg.”
“The train that has hit us has been on the track for a while,” he said. “We have to start living within our means.”
Vandiver said it will take at least six wet years to replenish the aquifers. There are 2,350 center pivots in the Valley, pumping at 900 gallons a minute. That, more than lack of precipitation, is responsible for the current severe situation, in which 100-year-old wells are going dry.
Allen Davey of David Engineering gave us a geology lesson, explaining the difference between confined and unconfined aquifers. He confirmed that overuse of water is the problem, that the aquifers aren’t recharging from runoff (confined) or seepage (unconfined) because we’re taking too much water out.
Practical solutions were offered by Kirk Thompson of Agro Engineering, after diagnosing “a severe situation.” He urged farmers to adjust irrigation and nozzle settings on pivots. He wants to ban end guns and booster pumps. End guns, he says, use 5 to 15 percent of the water of a pivot, depending on flow and boosters. He recalled the days when the Valley fought AWDI, banding together to fight a common enemy. One of the signs of that battle was the ubiquitous anti-AWDI bumper sticker urging people to vote against the state amendments that would have sucked the Valley’s water right out from under us. He displayed his design for a new sticker — “Friends Don’t Let Friends Use End Guns.” This garnered a big laugh.
More info about Thompson’s presentation can be found at www.agro.com.
After lunch, LeRoy Salazar made two presentations.
SALAZAR, AN AG ENGINEER and rancher/farmer, is part of the Ken Salazar family in the southern part of the Valley, which holds the most senior water right here. He offered an ocean of options for cutting water usage, including: stop end guns; stop watering corners; use conservation crops; and purchase and retire lesser well rights.
His farm strategy options include: plant less alfalfa, which uses much more water; stop irrigating earlier in the season; plant seeds deeper; cut post-season irrigating; and change rotation of crops for less usage. He stressed community effort and long-term thinking.
In the less-theory-more-practice category we had presenters from the Arkansas River Basin. Steve Witte, Division II engineer, and Don Higby, LLAMA manager, advised us to do ANYTHING to avoid litigation. They reviewed the history of the lawsuit with Kansas, which was ugly. As a result, that basin regularly tests flows, and has formed a committee of users to monitor wells. They also emphasized the value of working together on the problem.
Then we heard from lawyers. Bill Paddock, the attorney for the Rio Grande Water Users Association, put it thusly: “Think about what your farm is worth to you, to your children, and think about what it’s worth to preserve that asset.” He stated that the law allows the formation of subdistricts for groundwater conservation in the closed basin. Water attorney David Robbins reminded us that, thanks to the TABOR amendment, a vote is necessary to fund those subdistricts with taxes.
Preventive action by the community could include buying land and water rights and retiring them, planting native grasses on that land, and possibly paying people not to water in dry years.
An insurance agent discussed crop insurance, which would pay out if farmers didn’t plant due to drought. Robbins proposed a change to the rule book, saying if farmers choose not to water, they shouldn’t receive a “0” in their historical use record, which would ensure that they get the same water rights later.
THE CROWD’S RESPONSE to all of this was surprising, with lots of head nodding, applause, and appropriate gasps at maps and statistics. Obviously, last summer’s woes were heavily on the farmers’ minds as they contemplated this year’s work. The question-and-answer periods morphed into pep rallies, with individuals saying things like, “If we all do a little, it’ll help” and “We need to work together.”
One weathered veteran of the water wars stood up and said, “We’re all going to have to take one in the shorts a little!”
That sentiment — if not that colorful phrase — lingered after the conference.
“I thought it was a very productive meeting,” said Karla Shriver. She and her husband farm potatoes and small grains near Monte Vista, and the couple has been active in water issues in the SLV. She said that last year they cut down their wheat crop early, to save water. This year, they plan to make changes, but haven’t decided on specifics yet.
“We will participate. We will make adjustments,” she said. She’s optimistic about widespread participation too.
“The valley does go on a team approach.”
Kirk Thompson of Agro Engineering agreed.
“I thought it went real well,” he said. “My sense is that people are willing [to make sacrifices].”
Sacrifices may not be optional this year. SNOTEL reported that the Jan. 1 snowpack was 85 percent of normal, meaning there may not be enough water for business as usual, even for those not into altruism. Water users in the Valley will have to change their watering practices whether they want to or not.
Gulp.
Marcia Darnell recently quit her day job in Alamosa, and now has time to attend water summits.
