Farmers band together to sell... water
Several dozen farmers in southeastern Colorado have united in hopes of getting better prices for a crop they're selling more of these days — water.
The Pueblo Chieftain reported Thursday that organizers of the newly formed Lower Arkansas Valley Super Ditch Co. will pool their water resources and lease up to 45,000 acre-feet of water a year — about 14.7 million gallons — to growing Colorado municipalities. The leases could bring up to $15 million annually to the farmers, who say the revenue will help them keep in agriculture.
“It’s a chance to keep the valley whole by adding another crop,” said Frank Milenski, who farms between Rocky Ford and Swink, east of Pueblo. “The whole goal is being able to keep the water in the valley.”
The company will draw on 40 farmers and water-rights owners in six irrigation districts in the Arkansas River drainage. It won't buy and sell water, but rather will negotiate leases between water rights owners and users, the Chieftain reported. Following the model of similar operations in California, the farmers will lease water to metropolitan areas in return for leaving some of their land fallow.
It could be 15 to 20 years before all the details are worked out in the leasing plan, Super Ditch board member Donny Hansen told the Chieftain. “We’re going to be in this for the long haul. People always say the cities are going to eventually get the water, but somehow we needed to find a way for them to negotiate with the ones who own the water.”
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