No water is flowing yet to the farmers whose wells were shut down last week, despite the availability of water to help them out. From the Fort Morgan Times: "Standing beside a dry ditch and arid fields near Gilcrest, state officials asked municipalities on Wednesday to share water with about 200 farmers who could lose 30,000 acres of crops after the state shut down their wells. Agriculture Commissioner Don Ament said an agreement that would help the farmers has been tied up in court by three cities -- Boulder, Centennial and Sterling -- and by an irrigation ditch company and a mining company in Leadville. The Central Colorado Water Conservancy District said it struck a deal to get about 10,000 acre-feet of water from the Windy Gap reservoir, but a lawsuit filed by Front Range communities and other water users is preventing farmers from getting a drop of that water.
"The district and farmers needed three steps to get water to save the crops, Ament said. First was finding water, which Central did with help from the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which would supply water from Windy Gap to several entities along the Front Range and have those entities release water downstream for farmers. Second was money, and the state came up with $1 million. That money must be used only for replacement water, Ament pointed out...
"The third step is getting the deal through water court in Greeley. Kim Lawrence, an attorney representing the farmers whose wells were shut down, said the groups objecting to the deal could allow water to flow this week if they would talk to the judge who issued a court order shutting the wells down last week. 'This is about kicking someone when they're down. They're hoping these people go under,' Lawrence said. Tim Buchanan, an attorney for the Harmony Ditch Co. in Logan County, said he can't agree to the deal because he hasn't seen the proposal. He said well owners have hurt farmers downstream for decades by taking too much water. He said it takes eight to 10 years for that water to seep back into the South Platte River, and Harmony Ditch is getting only a fifth of the water to which it is entitled this year...
"Cech said the water deal is evaporating while attorneys argue because the water scheduled to be delivered to the Front Range continues to flow downstream. He said the farmers are losing 350 acre-feet a day, and it will no longer be available by June 15."
Category: Colorado Water
5:34:01 AM 
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