Many of you have read about, or heard of the Bundy Ranch take over by the Feds…and some of you are even aware of the huge water issues that face our part of Colorado (I get emails from you letting me know that you are following the water cases evolving all over our part of the state), and some have asked me to explain or at least give you my opinion.
First off…I am NOT a water lawyer, nor am I an employee of the ditch company, nor do I have credentials that make me any sort of an expert on the ‘water issue’ in Colorado.
I do know that it is against the law to save any rain water, ever…no barrels under rain spouts, no water barrels with the rich, soft rainwater all capped and waiting for us to use in case of emergency. EVER!
Our water is destined to head into the Colorado river and flow right on down to California and the ocean. The Colorado is the mother of all rivers with its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains and flows to other states.
Right now water in our part of the state (the western part of Colorado has most of the water in the state of Colorado) is a private asset. Meaning that the water system that is in place ….PREDATES Colorado statehood. This system operates on the junior-senior water rights system. Whenever you filed on the water is where your water rights fall in the uses of rights. The oldest filing is first, then on down the line.
For us…the Uncompahgre Valley Water Company is the second oldest water right on the Gunnison River.
There are pressures building to abolish this system (private use) and making it a public asset under the Governance of the Governor of the state. (In a nutshell —as far as my meager brain understands— this means if Denver wants our water then the governor can take if from here and give it to them.)
Only somewhere around two percent of Colorado’s population are farmers, 98% or not farmers. Also, somewhere around 80% of the population is on the Front Range of Colorado. Our area, the Uncompahgre Valley has 80,000 acres of farmland….of which we are a part of that acreage. I really don’t know how much farm land there is on the eastern slope so I’m not going to give you any figures for that.
So, unless you have a crystal ball, I really don’t know what is going to happen here with the water. You know as much as I know right now. Every day we just rejoice with having the water to irrigate with, watching the rows fill up with the water and flow on down to the end of our field until it reaches the canal again, flowing onto the next farm and the next until it reaches the river. We will vote to keep our rights here and we will wake up every morning, head out to change the water, and we will plant and harvest and give thanks for that day!
Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm,
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 
Very interesting, Linda… I hope and pray (for your sake) that the State (or the Fed. Govt) NEVER EVER take over your water (or you won’t get a bit)…. The more crap our Govt/States take over from the private industries, the worse our country will continue to get… Scary to think about –but with the present administration, that seems to be the way we are headed… I certainly hope not.
Hugs,
Betsy
LikeLike
Illegal to save water does not make sense to me. It’s just inconcievable why it’s illegal!!
LikeLike
Yes, for all of us farmers, water is the biggest issue, isn’t it? Here, big cities have drilled wells in the Ogallala Aquifer and pipe it hundreds of miles, that really takes water away from the farmers. With this drought, the potential of having enough water in the future is very doubtful. We are able to collect rainwater, thankfully. I am in the process of setting up a water collection system for my garden and trees. My gardens are raised beds, so really utilize the water effectively. Hopefully, that law to take your water will not go through.
Love your heading and sunset pictures!! Blessings!
LikeLike
Irrigating season gives me headaches! I don’t have enough. My neighbors have more than enough. Some of them don’t want me to have what is mine. Water turns neighbors into enemies. But the bottom line is, the more we use for watering lawns and filling swimming pools, the less we have to produce crops and water livestock. We have to choose. Food from here? Food imported from goodness knows where at some outrageous price. How much water do we run down the drain every day in the shower? When we brush our teeth? while we wait for cold water from the tap to get colder? I have my own well. It’s a good well. And I treat it very, very carefully. It’s precious. It’s valuable. It’s live giving. It will grow a veggie garden this year. It fills water tanks.
I do think that the govt. trying to regulate what falls from the sky is a bit over the top. Ok, a lot over the top. Has to be a middle ground.
LikeLike
What a bizarre system; thanks for enlightening the rest of us 🙂
LikeLike
I am from Gunnison and I try to keep Linda advised on what is happening on the Western slope water issue. She has summed it up very good in the the Eastern Slope has been taking water from the Western Side for many year. THEY HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR 50 YEARS OR LONGER TO TAKE MORE WATER. My Grandfather fought them. I am working and writing letters to the Governor also with a Group that was founded in Gunnison. The Western Slope Water Users Association was founded along with the Uncompahgre Water Users and other to work on these issues. Its fighting the ‘Legal’ forces in Denver that are trying to compel the Colorado Legeislature to pass new laws to change what Linda described above about water rights. There is a REAL DANGER of some fighting [like the Bundy fight in Az] coming on water if it gets out of control. I and many others hope it does not come to that {at least while I am alive and fighting for legal process]. Guns were used in the Wild West to settle these problems. I do NOT want to see this happen to my Colorado Relatives or their Children and future Generations.
LikeLiked by 1 person
As I read the comments above: The Federal Government does not intervene in Water Rights. Its a “COLORADO STATE” issue entirely! But Some Legal issues with Water Rights in Western States were Settled in the Supreme Court in Years Past. The Water Users on the Eastern Slope have tried to push arguments to the Colorado Supreme Court but stopped there. IF there is an Abiding interest and enough money then they might take it through the legal system to the SC. I sincerely not, as the legal fees to the Western Slope Water Users will be very costly to the Citizens
LikeLike
Very educational post. As a new resident on the front range, we moved into an area that is 90% unlandscaped. Never before have we been so aware of water, and your post explains so much. When people here put in a grass yard, I cringe. That being said, I am surprised that western slope farmers choose to grow corn, which is pretty water intensive. Not judging at all. Is this because the federal govt creates artificially high prices for corn? I’m ignorant on this.
LikeLike
I wonder what all those urban-dwellers will eat if there is no water for farmers? I was surprised to read that it’s illegal to collect water, but I guess the feeling is that all runoff will eventually get to the river. I hope the attempt to change the water rights in Colorado doesn’t go any further.
LikeLike
Great post Linda! So many challenges that people who don’t live it don’t know about.
LikeLike
Thanks for the explanation.
Water wars are a continuing problem in California, as you well know, and seem to be ongoing. Not being able to collect rainwater and allowing water to be dumped into the ocean instead of diverted to farmland in order to protect a tiny bait fish is totally absurd.
LikeLike
VERY enlightening for us people who do not know. Thanks.
LikeLike
oh, my. feels rather helpless on your part…
LikeLike
Scary! We have a few issues here in Canada but we also have a lot of good fresh water too. Great post……I like being kept in the loop because what affects you now will, at some point, affect us all.
LikeLike
Not being allowed to collect rainwater for your own domestic use sounds utterly bizarre to an Australian. Millions of Aussies are not connected to a reticulated water system, and rainwater is all they have. While we have federal and state government here, just as you do, I think our government is less interfering. Farmers buy water for irrigation where they take it from a major river system, but it’s mainly so that the government is able to regulate how much is taken where, ensuring everyone gets a share and the river system survives. We are all encouraged to collect and save water. Runoff into the sea is not a good thing – the Great Barrier Reef is in severe danger due to agricultural runoff causing algal bloom, clogging of the corals and scouring by particulate. Very interesting to see how governments do in other countries…
LikeLike
Just TOO bizarre to really comprehend – I cannot imagine a country farm house and/or a shed without a rainwater tank next to the building for rain water!!
As urban people and people on the land with farms close to towns who are dependent on council controlled water, there is a charge for usage but people can have tanks for garden watering and also for washing etc. The government here when we had that terrible drought of a couple of years ago even helped with subsidies for the building of house tanks. Water in house tanks conserve more water in the reservoirs for other purposes – eg: fires – bush or house!!
Especially a good idea for our dry continent and droughts!
Do the Colorado bureaucrats or water controllers believe that Colorado is drought free???
What planet do they live on??????
Thanks for the information -makes people really understand all the costs that you as farmers have to meet to put food on their tables!
Great Easter weather here – country wide – beaches packed!
Now it can rain – more is needed for the rural regions before winter – June 1st.
LikeLike
One of the things we must remember is that water used for agriculture feeds and cloths all of us. ALL OF US. we find the produce in our super markets both in the fresh produce area and in the canned and frozen and dried food isles. Not all grain crops are produced for human consumption. A lot of corn, barley, oats, …..goes to feed cows and chickens and pigs and turkeys and sheep and goats. Oh, and it’s in the dog and cat food you buy too. It is our source of eggs and butter and bread and meat. It helps to produce leather and fiber for fabric. It supports the health of animals that contribute to our health. We don’t get rich doing this. Most of us just scrape by. When the price I get for my calves in the fall goes up so does the cost of fuel, and power and wire and rubber and everything else I need to keep things operating. We need to remember that a huge part of the population is so far removed from agriculture that they really, really don’t understand. We need to do what we can to educate. We care deeply about what we do. The land and animals….well, it’s very close to our hearts. It is who we are.
We need to try to educate without bashing. But, we very often get bashed in the process. But, no matter. We will keep trying. And hopefully, we can get food and clothing to a lot of people.
LikeLike
Linda, thanks for your grassroots level explanation of what Colorado’s unique and convoluted water laws mean to a family that is so dependent on them. The Front Range / Western Slope population disparity is only going to increase, and the pressure on “ownership” of this resource is just going to intensify. I continue to admire you and Terry hanging on in spite of new challenges popping up every day. Thanks for digging in your heels and not giving up.
LikeLike
This is so fascinating and strange to me here in NZ, where water falls from the skies and we can collect it in water tanks and use as much as we want.
LikeLike
Such craziness! I will never understand for the life of me why us suburbanites can water our lawns all day long while farmers go without water to grow the food we eat.
LikeLike
Hi Linda! Thanks for providing an excellent post on an important issue that is so foreign to so many people here in Colorado and beyond. Like you, my family has lived in this state for many years. My grandparents grew up in Idaho Springs before Statehood – and water rights have always been ‘an issue’ talked of. Mother’s family farmed by what is now Morrison, and i remember her talking of the fights over ditch water when she was a kid. My cousins still run cattle near Westcliffe.
I have never understood why development has taken precidence over farming and ranching water. Has never made sense. Front range water rights have been being bought up for years, and it is unbelievable what a share of Big T now sells for.
Water is an issue that we all need to watch – as front range bureaucrats will continue to try to divert it from anywhere.
We are on a well here and cherish every drop. And I will always admire those who farm and ranch, always!
Thanks for providing the education and conversation for all! 🙂
LikeLike
And by the way, our well water is metered and we have to turn in the amount used yearly to the v State of Colorado. If amount used is over a certain amount- we can be fined.
And luckily the well permit was pulled prior to, can’t remember the date, otherwise we would not be ‘allowed’ to use water for… things like a greenhouse.
Colorado has changed so very much in the past 50 years. I sapose I sound like my parents now.
LikeLike
That is so sad…..the governor with the power to take the farmers water. It falls from the sky so it belongs to everyone. Farmers are very important….we all need to eat ! So why not keep sharing and making sure everyone has a fair share. Farmers need to make a honest and healthy living too. No one can make milk or eggs but the animals on the farms and they need food too ! I believe there is enough for all…..God willing !
LikeLike
Very interesting post. 2% of your state’s population are farmers?! My word! I think of Colorado as a ranching state. I had no idea you couldn’t even save rainwater. You’ve opened my eyes this morning!
LikeLike
I find it really scary that you cannot collect rain water, you get so little rain. It falls from the skies a gift from God. What is the fine and do they have water police? Thanks for educating us Linda. I have not read about the Bundy land use thing…my husband has. I guess everyone has an opinion on it and it will spend years in the courts and only the lawyers will profit.:(
LikeLike
I too appreciate this info. As others have said farmers must keep telling their story so that the safe excellent food supply continues. I too am amazed that you cannot collect water. I am sure some abused it.
Please comment on the range land. I know that saving one species of animals has gone too far.
LikeLike
*hugs*
God bless you all, Linda. ♥
LikeLike
I was not aware of this system. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
Very interesting history about who gets water first (Jr-Sr. Water rights)!
The thing that city folks fail the realize is that their food comes from you. It might not be directly, but it comes from you. There’s a constant battle in Texas with the water from one of our rivers going toward humans (lawns, laundry, showers, toilets, drinking, etc) and heading downstream to the rice farmers. It’s something I can’t properly wrap my mind around.
LikeLike