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Arkansas River Basin <br />La Junta, Colorado 8.27.03 <br />: <br />41 <br />Agriculture, government, water conservancy districts, local activists <br />: <br />With agriculture in economic trouble, selling water rights is highly controversial: <br />The basin is divided over the issue of farmers selling their water rights to survive <br />and ?cash out,? even when that leads to drying up farms. Drying up agriculture <br />leads to a ripple effect that negatively impacts the community, including creating <br />a lower tax base. However, those farmers who do sell their water rights, but stay <br />active in the community, can provide economic gain for the community. <br />Trans-basin and in-basin diversions can be equally devastating to a community: <br />Any water rights transfer without mitigation, either within the basin or outside the <br />basin, can lead to devastating impacts to farms and the local economy. <br />Diversions can have a compounding effect since closed farms also affect <br />agricultural support industries. <br />There is a need for broader economic solutions: The group encouraged SWSI to <br />look beyond water issues toward the bigger economic picture and ways to help <br />farmers. If farmers weren?t in trouble financially, they wouldn?t have to sell their <br />water rights. Along the same lines, there also is a need to partner with the Front <br />Range to create non-agricultural jobs in the basin. For example, one opportunity <br />to create jobs may include using the basin?s warm-water lakes as a recreational <br />draw to spur tourism visits from the Front Range. <br />Evaluate creative solutions to satisfy the basin?s diverse needs: The group <br />discussed possible creative ways to help the farmer and to preserve an <br />individual?s right to keep or sell water rights. Such solutions may include water <br />rights leasing, water banking, more storage, eradication of water-thirsty tamarisk, <br />and ?drip system? irrigation. While the ?drip system? irrigation saves water, it <br />also reduces return flows, so it must be done consistently with the compact <br />obligations to provide required flows to Kansas. <br />