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District takes up farming to gain water rights
Officials at the Parker Water and Sanitation District have taken up farming to appease a flock of whooping crane.
By By: Jennifer Simonson
Officials at the Parker Water and Sanitation District have taken up farming to appease a flock of whooping crane.
The district owns and operates several working farms northeast of Sterling. Two years ago, it spent about $6 million buying the farms in Logan County for its water rights.
The water will compensate for the estimated 3,000 acre-feet of water transferred in wet years from Cherry Creek to help fill the proposed Rueter-Hess Reservoir. That transfer of water, which eventually depletes the South Platte River, would impact a whopping crane habitat in Nebraska, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the district.
"Basically they told us to bring them water or we could not build the reservoir," said Jim Nikkel, the district engineer.
To produce the water, the district followed a controversial trend of buying agricultural land for its water.
With the not one more drop mentality from the Western Slope and the environmental issues districts deal with when building water structures, Nikkel said agricultural water will be the next resource for cities.
During the past decade, some Denver area water districts buying farm land in the Arkansas Valley have let the farms go dry, devastating the small agricultural communities, said Jennifer Kemp, director of government relations with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.
Seeing what has happened in the Arkansas Valley has left farmers across the state suspicious of "big city" water districts. In a county that survives on agriculture, which survives on water, residents have a right to be worried, she said.
"Anytime that we have water rights sold from our county it has a negative effect on our tax base and a loss of jobs," said Logan County Commissioner Jack McLavey.
In an era when farming is less and less profitable, some farmers regard their water rights as their retirement fund.
With water sometimes more valuable than the land it sits under, McLavey said he doesn't blame farmers for selling their cash crop.
"I just hope they have a concern for the area that supported them for so many years and have second thoughts about the devastating effects it will create in our area," he said.
Parker water district officials are conscious of their impact to the community and are trying to make that impact as transparent as possible.
The district is paying local property taxes, hiring local farmers and purchasing products locally all to pour money back into that community.
"Our goal is not to dry up the farms but to keep them in production," Nikkel said.
The district has spent money making improvements and creating waterwise farms. Sprinkler systems that require less water to irrigate have replaced the typical flood irrigation that was used on the farms.
The water conscious farms will be limited on the types of crops it will produce.
The new "urban/rural water farm model" will run on an operating loss for the next three to five years.
After that, district officials predict the farms will break even.
The district owns and operates several working farms northeast of Sterling. Two years ago, it spent about $6 million buying the farms in Logan County for its water rights.
The water will compensate for the estimated 3,000 acre-feet of water transferred in wet years from Cherry Creek to help fill the proposed Rueter-Hess Reservoir. That transfer of water, which eventually depletes the South Platte River, would impact a whopping crane habitat in Nebraska, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the district.
"Basically they told us to bring them water or we could not build the reservoir," said Jim Nikkel, the district engineer.
To produce the water, the district followed a controversial trend of buying agricultural land for its water.
With the not one more drop mentality from the Western Slope and the environmental issues districts deal with when building water structures, Nikkel said agricultural water will be the next resource for cities.
During the past decade, some Denver area water districts buying farm land in the Arkansas Valley have let the farms go dry, devastating the small agricultural communities, said Jennifer Kemp, director of government relations with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union.
Seeing what has happened in the Arkansas Valley has left farmers across the state suspicious of "big city" water districts. In a county that survives on agriculture, which survives on water, residents have a right to be worried, she said.
"Anytime that we have water rights sold from our county it has a negative effect on our tax base and a loss of jobs," said Logan County Commissioner Jack McLavey.
In an era when farming is less and less profitable, some farmers regard their water rights as their retirement fund.
With water sometimes more valuable than the land it sits under, McLavey said he doesn't blame farmers for selling their cash crop.
"I just hope they have a concern for the area that supported them for so many years and have second thoughts about the devastating effects it will create in our area," he said.
Parker water district officials are conscious of their impact to the community and are trying to make that impact as transparent as possible.
The district is paying local property taxes, hiring local farmers and purchasing products locally all to pour money back into that community.
"Our goal is not to dry up the farms but to keep them in production," Nikkel said.
The district has spent money making improvements and creating waterwise farms. Sprinkler systems that require less water to irrigate have replaced the typical flood irrigation that was used on the farms.
The water conscious farms will be limited on the types of crops it will produce.
The new "urban/rural water farm model" will run on an operating loss for the next three to five years.
After that, district officials predict the farms will break even.
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