Headwaters Summer 2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-r �. •'�F' t u� �P ti t f . f s t t G y rf l t �• Y' painful but straightforward decision, was forced to shut down their wells. Most were used for farm irrigation from Brighton to Fort Morgan. "In April, (well users) thought they'd be OK;" explains Simpson. "They were waiting for leases from Longmont and Fort Collins. Then, the first of May, we got the runoff information. Snow pack was down to 84 percent of average. Fort Collins pulled 5,000 acre feet out of the mix." Simpson had no choice. Without water to substitute deple- tions from the South Platte River caused by their wells, legally the well users could not be allowed to pump. If they did, it could injure other water rights entitled to that water. Central's manager, Tom Cech, was on the phone day and night to water lawyers, water engineers and water managers. He met with objectors, answered questions, and hoped for a compromise. The farmers already had an estimated $1 million worth of crops planted and no way to prevent them from baking to a crisp in the late spring heat. They had planted, believing they'd be allowed to pump a 15 percent quota during the 2006 growing season. Almost immediately, government officials, some Front Range cities and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District rushed to aid farmers. For $1 million, NCWCD agreed to lease 10,000 acre -feet of temporary augmentation water, including water from the Colorado -Big Thompson and Windy Gap projects. This water, says Simpson, would have allowed many of the well owners to continue operating. It roughly equaled their 15 percent ration to which Central and three dozen objectors initially had agreed. But the objectors balked at the new plan. They submitted questions and several took substantial time to consider the arrangement, while dry, sunny weather continued and well users estimated they had a week or 10 days before their crops were beyond saving. Finally, on June 2, nearly a month after Simpson shut off the wells, the objectors sent a letter saying the plan didn't meet their approval. The objectors said they would not accept the new plan unless the Well Augmentation Subdistrict could meet a call on the river, 365 days a year, for three consecutive years. This refusal effectively killed any hopes for reactivating the wells this year. "(Well users) wanted the criteria for what they'd have to pay back to be less," City of Boulder Water Resources Director Carol Ellinghouse says, referring to what Boulder claims is a debt of 14,000 acre -feet of water. But those on the side of the well pumpers don't think these objections tell the full story. Says Central's Cech: "It's a sad state of affairs when Colorado water law is used to put good people out of business, in the guise of protecting senior water rights." Because the objectors would not accept the emergency terms, according to Cech, NCWCD's 10,000 acre feet of water was delivered into a water account, "but never to farmers." Ironically, several of the entities on the list of objectors are CCWCD Manager Tom Cech (left) talks with farmer and Central board member Gary Herman at a South Platte augmentation pond that is under construction. The pond is part of the well users' plan to repay, or augment, water pumped.