Saturday, July 29, 2006

RICD for Durango in danger? Durango Herald: "Colorado's top water authority filed its opposition Thursday to the city of Durango's application for a recreational water right on the Animas River. The recommendation for denial by the Colorado Water Conservation Board was filed in Durango water court, where a 10-day trial on the matter is scheduled for May. Durango's request for a guaranteed flow of water for a boating park on the Animas adjacent to Santa Rita Park is opposed by ditch companies, La Plata County and the Southwestern Water Conservation District, which speaks for water organizations from Pagosa Springs to Dove Creek. Opponents fear upstream users could be shorted if the city is awarded a Recreational In-Channel Diversion, which is a guaranteed amount of water for kayaks and other river craft... "The state's Water Conservation Board, which met in Durango on Monday and Tuesday, is bound by law to consider a number of factors in acting on a water-right application. In the case of Durango, the board said: The boat park would cost Colorado 159,000 acre-feet of water a year because the water would not be put to a beneficial use before leaving the state; Although Durango says it wants the 850-foot course for canoeing, boating and tubing, there is no evidence that the Smelter Rapid course could accommodate uses other than for kayakers and rafters; There likely are users upstream from Durango who will need water in the future; there would be limited use of Smelter Rapid in the winter; and it was not demonstrated that the amount of water requested is the minimum needed for 'a reasonable recreational experience.'" "colorado water" 8:22:38 AM

Who's drying up this week? Farmland in Colorado is under siege from drought, economics and unbridled growth, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Irrigated farmland is disappearing at an astonishing rate in Colorado, reaching its lowest point in 32 years, state and federal data show. About 1 million acres of irrigated farmland have dried up since hitting a high point in the 1970s, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, with the majority of the loss occurring since 1997. The prolonged drought is partly to blame. But so are new laws reducing the use of irrigation wells and the sale of farm water to thirsty, fast-growing cities. The drying of these lands raises major lifestyle questions for the state, from preserving the lush farms that ensure fresh produce at farmers' markets to keeping green open space along urban corridors. The alarming dry-up also puts critical water-sharing agreements now on the table between cities and rural regions at risk. Colorado acreage made arable by irrigation has dropped to fewer than 2.4 million acres, according to data from NASS and estimates from the Colorado Division of Water Resources, well below the 3.1 million acres that state planners estimated existed six years ago... "Because farmers helped settle the West, they control much of its water. Their large, irrigated farms made the region greener than it had ever been, thanks, in part, to large, government-built water facilities such as the Big Thompson Project in northern Colorado. That the West would revert back to a browner landscape has long been considered unavoidable, as cities replace the farms that once dominated the countryside. But any wholesale dry-up will have a profound effect across the West, said Dan Luecke, a water expert and environmental consultant. 'It is inevitable,' Luecke said. 'However, anyone who says we'll get all of our water from agriculture is either being very insensitive or not very savvy.'" Read the whole article. Jerd Smith, the author of the piece, really understands water issues. "colorado water" 8:06:26 AM

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