Colorado Water
Thirsty cities are drying up Colorado's agriculture, according to this article from the Denver Post [July 11, 2004, "Cities' water needs uprooting Colorado farms"]. From the article, "With cities offering much higher prices for water than farmers could ever get from crops or selling their land, experts and others fear that brisk water sales will hasten the erosion of whole farming communities in Colorado. And the onset of drought has only quickened a farming exodus. Over the last decade, Colorado has lost an average of 90,000 farm acres a year to drought and other reasons; 4,000 of the state's 51,000 farmers could get out of the business this year, according to Colorado State University researchers. With $17 billion in annual sales, agriculture is the state's third-leading industry and the biggest consumer of water. Even in the South Platte River basin, home to Denver and most of the state's big cities, farms use about 82 percent of the water. In the Yampa, Gunnison and Rio Grande basins, crop irrigation accounts for more than 99 percent of water use. If agriculture used just 10 percent less water, there would be enough water to serve twice the population of the Front Range, experts said."
Update: MakesMeRalph and the Durango Herald are stirring up the muck around rainy side water politics.
8:02:16 AM 
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