ColoradoComments13 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Comments to SWSI, November 3,2003, by John Wiener 5 when I last inquired, had not decided on chargesi USGS data can be used to create some maps, but their coverage of ditches is not known. Watershed groups may have additionaJ information available, and there are efforts to provide basic GIS information for such groups; the CDM firm may have substantiat resources in this areas. and I am noting that because it may be important for the Roundtabfe groups to be able to see such maps4 The ditches are an important cuJtural value in themselves. OBJECTIVE 9 ... Provide for healthy Colorado economy..... Yeah! OBJECTIVE 10 - Provide for operational flexibUity For the record~ why not add a subhead recognizing that water rights are private property for which most (not all) owners have paidJ and that an important part of this objective is UCreate infrastructure and institutions needed to enable suffjcient marketing and transfers to provide equitable outcomes in water transfer marketslt? Or just, '.Enable fair water markets?-- COMMENTS ON RELEVANT ISSUES Small acreages as a factor in hay, feed and water demand The popularity of IIhorse propertiesll and demand for quality feed for recreational animals is apparently a high-growth opportunity and rapidly..increasing land use in Colorado, allover. Anecdotal evidence is that there was a substantial boost to ioea' farming from very high prices paid for hay for pets during the 2002 drought. In the long term, it may be important that a large number of properties have been sold to horse-lovers who cannot feed their animals on the acreage they own, and are not seeking to engage in serious or commercial agriculture. These small...acreage holders should be considered as a different category from the rather 'arge group that owns small or moderate sized farms and supports them with off-farm employment (see annual reports on family farm, from USDA Economic Research Servicet or numerous discussions available through the USDA ERS website or government documents librarians). This farm- supporter group seems to be maintaining commercial-Jike farms, as distinct from urecreationalll or "hobby" farms such as the horse-supporters maintajn. As the horse group grows in Colorado, the demand for feed may grow, perhaps in the way it grew in 2002. (Partial coverage of this is provided in USDA ERS FDS-2003, AprH 2003, Feed Situation and Outlook Yearbook; it may be covered jn various updates as weJJ; and see also Henderson and Novack 2003; cited below). The increasing density of werts and septic systems may arso influence the interests of these people in water from other sources. Groundwater availability cannot be presumed on the basis of ownership of a buifdabre lot, even if the counties and state wish that were so. This may result in increased competition for wells and the right to pump groundwater, or increased usa of other water suppHes. Small town supplies are now often important for ex-urban users. Another consideration is that many small properties are subdivisions or parcels from irrigated acreage, and these new pieces may have or may want to have irrigation rights or shares in the irrigation company~ The interests in amenities and environmental benefits of those ditches appear to increase attractiveness for real estate development probability (work by John Wilkins- Weirs, CoJorado State University Sociology Water Lab, partly in progress: see <http://waterlab.corostate~edu>). Proximity to water features; even with increased flood risk, has been shown to increase real estate values (Wiener 1997, and see on-line bibriography on socioeconomics of floodrng, Wiener, available through Natural Hazards Research AppJications and tnformation Center, University of Colorado). This creates the chance for both increased financial support for ditches, and the chance for decreased interest in modernizing irrigation,