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<br />DRAFT
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<br />1 Harold Miskel- Is anyone intending trying to start tracking how much of the Ag land is .
<br />2 being converted is going into low density or open space?
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<br />4 Ray _? - No centralized warehouse for this information. We try and find it and pull it
<br />5 together. Most reliable source would be to work :with Counties with sophisticated GIS
<br />6 systems, This is a very large and complex project. It would be nice to establish some
<br />7 sort of partnerships with local and state agencies,;
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<br />9 High quality Ag lands, 2,5% of states total inventory, that's defined basically the highly
<br />10 productivity Ag lands, correct?
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<br />12 Ray _? Yes, under technical criteria, easy to faim, nice soil,
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<br />14 Is it reasonable to say that the lands under pressure are not high quality Ag, but, rather
<br />15 prime economically instead?
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<br />17 Weld has largest share of prime land, We still don't know where the growth pressure is
<br />18 in Weld County, but the County likely does,
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<br />20 Is conversion of Ag water occurring on all categories of lands, including high quality
<br />21 lands?
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<br />23 My intuition says yes. Northeastern Colorado Ag lands are a crown jewel. .
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<br />25 Don Ament: Let me summarize a little bit. Thdhing that troubles me the most, you've
<br />26 seen the figures, is that the population is increasing - 6,5 million people, Fact is that of
<br />27 these 6,5 million, those people who are on the land, the number of actual ranchers and
<br />28 farmers producing the food, are decreasing. As they decrease, in public policy debates,
<br />29 there's a new population with a new environmental agenda, recovery programs,
<br />30 endangered species, and recreational programs, I'm afraid those demands will override
<br />31 any decision to protect agriculture water. Y ou n~ver hear "people have to eat" in the
<br />32 arguments, But we still produce food for everydne to eat every day, But no one
<br />33 guarantees that this is sustainable, The average age of a farmer is 60, Profitability of
<br />34 agriculture on a whole is not good, Whether its cattle, potatoes, com growers, we've got
<br />35 a decreasing number ofthese people and many l!fe not making money, They get an
<br />36 attractive offer and they sell. How much water is wanted for transfer? These
<br />37 circumstances spell our public policy.. .increasmg demand for water, people looking for a
<br />38 way out of farming, Farm equity is generally gqing down, It is no surprise there's an
<br />39 interest in transferring this water; question is how can we help save Ag water. You all
<br />40 have heard about all these new uses like, conjunctive use, How about recycling?
<br />41 Certainly, it's a piece of it. Conservation? People like this, Ask the experts how much
<br />42 we can supply in the future through conservation".a dribble, 10% maybe, Greg and Rod
<br />43 say cement is the answer, we must build more storage. But while we're waiting, other
<br />44 people are planning on using this water downstream from us, and construction costs are
<br />45 growing daily, Those figures, to layout our cas.e for the people needing to pay the bills, .
<br />46 should have been done 20 years ago, The future of agriculture, of growth, or recreation,
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