Shannon is our oldest child, and our oldest daughter. She has a great cosmetology business in the Denver region. She not only styles people’s hair, but she teaches classes on hair.
It really isn’t a vacation for her, because when she gets home, she gets to cut, or color, or both on everyone’s hair.
Fuzzy loves to run with us as we check the water. He does really good, for an old dog going blind.
Our other hay field is three years old, and still looks good. Once weeds and dandelions take hold then it will be time to plow out the field and start over.
Terry is marking the hay to start the water.
The Alfalfa seed is being planted. Alfalfa seed is one of most expensive seeds to purchase-$200 a bag. The seed is very, very tiny, smaller than a mustard seed; so it takes lots of seeds to cover the field.
Once the seed takes hold, a farmer can get from 3-5 years harvest of hay, but the first year is critical. We won’t see any harvest this year, except maybe one in the late summer or early fall.
But Kelly, and the kids, got Misty a real cake!
Terry made Misty’s 31st Birthday Cake. This made, Misty extremely nervous, since her Dad is a big practical joker!
She was right to be wary, the cake had a water balloon inside, just waiting to be popped!
Time has a way of tearing down things, and fences are no different. 
It is still cold here…see the snow on Grand Mesa? And we had a blizzard as I drove into work this morning.
The first of May and it feels like the end of March.
Pump enforcement
The Uncompaghre Water Association is taking action to crack down on unregistered pumps this spring, not so much for revenue but accountability.
It’s the water. And if the ditch company doesn’t account for the unregistered pumps, then that water appears to be unused and not put to a beneficial use. Beneficial use is a big part of water rights.
People on the Front Range, Nevada and California watch Western Colorado water use.
This year, ‘tattle-tale’ meters have been placed on the delivery ditches to account for the water. If there’s water that’s not being used, then that water must go to another state. Farmers and other people who are paying for the pumps, are carrying the load for those who have not been paying.
Most people with unregistered pumps are residential users who use the water to irrigate landscaping and gardens. The annual registration fee for such application is $165 and can be paid at the UVWUA office at 601 North Park Avenue. Enforcement is to begin in mid-May.
“After we start water, if they haven’t registered their pump we’re gonna notify them and they’ll have 10 days to come in and take care of it. And after that then we will remove their pump from the ditch (for noncompliance),” Catlin said. (Catlin is the manager of the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association. I quoted him from the Montrose Daily Press.)
Our farm’s water, leaves our farm and goes to the next farm just across the road. Irrigation water is NOT ever wasted. Now there are even more rules to help keep tabes on the amount of water going to the Colorado River.
