Laserfiche WebLink
Arkansas Basin Roundtable Technical Meeting #1 <br />Meeting Summary <br />- The water bank has not worked because of the drought <br />- Farmers who do not want to sell their water rights may want to lease their water rights <br />during drought times. <br />- Bankers in the region are concerned about the need to foreclose on farms. In some cases, <br />bankers are using agricultural water rights as collateral. Or, they may seize the water right <br />and get into the market of selling water. <br />^ Suggestions to SWSI <br />- Check publications with local universities on quality of life indicators and non-market <br />valuations <br />- Check studies on salinity (e.g., Gates / Garcia study) within the Arkansas Valley and <br />agricultural salt source mapping completed by Colorado State University. Salinity is an <br />issue in the Arkansas Basin and desalinization should be an objective. <br />- Acknowledge quality of life and real estate value of "inefficient" structures, e.g., ditches <br />- Extend credit subsidies to agricultural <br />- Maximize amount of available information on the effects of water transfers <br />- Make SWSI materials publicly available <br />- Increase flexibility for agriculture to agriculture water transfers <br />^ Developing objectives for water management is critical to SWSI's success <br />^ SWSI is a much needed mechanism to prioritize water management options <br />^ It will be beneficial to tie to social values to economic net benefits for recreation, <br />environmental, and cultural issues <br />^ Water management flexibility <br />- It is very important to have irrigation flexibility in terms of frequency, rate, and duration. <br />- Basin management opportunities should be considered as an objective. <br />- Consider tamarisk and salt cedar control within SWSI's water management solutions <br />^ Consider everyone in the state <br />- It was suggested that everyone educate themselves on the Colorado River District policy <br />for trans-basin diversions. The policy states that a basin must first make the best and full <br />use of available water supplies. Such uses include reuse and efficient water management. <br />- The western slope can work together with the Front Range <br />- The Colorado River District web site has information on water issues: www.crwcd.org <br />^ Water Rights <br />- The agricultural community is losing the ability to buy, sell, and/or lease water rights. <br />- One individual expressed the hope that a goal of SWSI would be to better understand how <br />water rights will be managed within the Arkansas Valley <br />- In response to the water rights comments, it was mentioned that the water market was <br />added to the Arkansas Valley for the purpose of keeping water within the basin <br />- One representative from the "water sellers° community (agriculture community) felt as <br />though they were not well represented on the roundtable. This individual stated that many <br />people on the roundtable did not understand what the agricultural community had been <br />through. Further, this individual did not feel as though the water bank concept would be <br />effective for the agricultural community, especially without free access to all water <br />markets. <br />~~ <br />Copy ofArkansas BRT Mtg #1 Summary_fnal.doc 11/14/2003 <br />