Farmers’ sale of water can be a bad idea

Agriculture in the Rocky Mountain West consumes the lion’s share of the region’s water supply, but farmers are increasingly cashing in on the thirst of rapidly growing cities, according to the 2007 State of the Rockies Report Card released Monday.

Colorado College’s annual study is compiled by CC students and staff and looks at trends affecting the eight-state region of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. This year’s report primarily focused on water sustainability, forest health and energy production.

The report cites 2000 U.S. Geological Survey figures showing that more than 87 percent of the region’s total water use was for irrigation, while 6.4 percent was for public supply. Yet struggling farmers are frequently turning to municipalities to bail them out, a practice that can hurt rural economies, it says.

The issue was the subject of a panel discussion Monday that kicked off a three-day conference at the college.

“It’s not gloom and doom,” said Melinda Kassen, managing director of the Western Water Project, a project with the nonprofit conservation group Trout Unlimited. Still, she said, cities and farmers have to look for alternatives to permanently transferring water.

Selling water rights to cities is nothing new in the arid West. But urban areas such as Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix are growing far faster than the nation as a whole. The demand for green lawns, clean cars and drinking water comes as groundwater supplies shrink and farmers battle low commodity prices. Selling water rights becomes a “bail out” for farmers, according to the report.

The practice may bring short-term profits but can hurt rural economies, the report says. Property taxes may plummet on land that goes from productive to parched. Retail sales at businesses such as supply stores and tractor dealers decline. Populations shrink.

The report points to Morgan County, which saw about 400 wells shut down a year ago to protect senior surface-water rights. The estimated lost property value: $30 million.

The report highlights several ways agriculture can help cities meet their demands without harming rural areas, including:

- Interruptible supply agreements that allow cities to negotiate with water-rights holders to pay for water in times of drought.

- Rotational crop-management agreements in which a group of farmers periodically fallow portions of their properties to deliver a regular water supply to their buyer.

- Water banks that allow unused water rights to be leased for current or future use.

- A “purchase and lease back” strategy in which a city buys land and its water rights and leases them back to the land’s user, allowing the land to still be used at least part of the time.

The State of the Rockies conference continues today and Wednesday with discussions and lectures on forest health and growth and development.

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