Ditch of Destiny: The Bessemer Helped Pueblo Develop, Grow

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The Pueblo Chieftain Online Page 5 of 5 to store water over the winter, rather than either trying to irrigate in the winter or let the water go on by. Bessemer always had turned its water off in the winter to build and maintain bridges in Pueblo, according to longtime shareholder Bert Hartman. So even though Bessemer members didn't get as much water under the winter storage program as they had let go in the past, they still enjoyed the benefit of more water in the growing season. In the mid- 1980s, rumors flew that developers in Colorado Springs and Aurora were trying to buy Bessemer ditch water, and there were numerous meetings and debates over the idea. But shareholders reportedly were holding out for $6,000 a share, and no offers came in for that much. In the years since, several ditches in the Arkansas Valley have sold or leased water to Front Range cities, and there are always questions whether the Bessemer might be next. Bert Hartman, whose family settled on South Road and 36th Lane more than a century ago, said he thinks one day farming will disappear from this area. Farming is a "non- earning asset" these days, he said. "If business is here, the water will stay here. If it isn't, the water will leave." Doug Wiley, whose family has farmed and ranched on the last headgate of the Bessemer for many years, feels the same pressures of corporate farms and foreign food imports, but maintains the hope that specialty farming will still find a market. "If we care about the future, we will maintain some form of irrigated agriculture in this valley," he said. "This generation will be judged by the way we deal with this issue." ON THE NET: Map: http_. / /www.lavwcd.org /maps bessemer.htm ©1996- 2005The Pueblo Chieftain Online http: / /www. chieftain. com /print.php ?article = /Metro /l 123480800/4 8/9/2005