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<br />U.S.NEWS
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<br />Jeans bought Oil ranch 10 raise cattle, then found the water more valuable
<br />
<br />A lucky landowner can make a killing in the coming shortage
<br />The accidental water baron
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<br />Only after Franklyn Jeans paid $2
<br />million for the Fi"h Springs Ranch
<br />ncar Nevada'" Pyramid Like did he
<br />di"",o\'cr that the water underneath
<br />was worth at leasl $27,5 million,
<br />Jeans's good fortune came last
<br />month when Washoe: County, a
<br />fasl-growing area Ihal Includes
<br />Reno. agr~d (0 buy the rights fo
<br />ground" waler from his ranch-
<br />327.000 acres of sagebrush. alfalfa,
<br />mountains. callie and growling wa.
<br />ter wclh. Jeans will recei..c: S2.5 mil.
<br />lion for an option on the: waler and
<br />then up to S27.5 million over the
<br />neX! 10 ye:us if the: (OUnI)' uses the
<br />water. Wa..hoe County Commis:<.ion
<br />ChaIrman Gene McDowell calls the:
<br />purchase "insuranct-" MJ that the
<br />area can grow.
<br />Worth mOfa than farmll'lQ. Jeani ii
<br />one of a new breed of W~tern water
<br />entrt-preneut'J who '>ell their waler
<br />rights to hard-presM'd cities. Only a
<br />"handful" of such ~pt"Culalot\ "real-
<br />ly makt- a Ii'..ing off inve~ting:' ac-
<br />cording to waler-policy consultanl
<br />Steve Shupe. But with the days of
<br />d,lm bUilding over, he claims thai
<br />growing cities have hllk choice bur
<br />fO huy righls to e;(bting ..ourc~ of
<br />w:ller-mo~t of which belong to
<br />farmer.... "Water is wonh bIg bucks
<br />here," sa}'s Nevada Slahl climatolo-
<br />gl\t John James. "It's wonh a hell
<br />of a lot more th:1I1 farming and
<br />working your~df to death."
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<br />Yet, mo,>t times, ~elling water is
<br />nOI a way 10 get nch quick. Legal
<br />hassles and polilics make waler
<br />lramfen a risky busine,>s. Some
<br />Wcslern legislators are pushlllg
<br />bills-12 were intrlXluced in the Ar-
<br />izona Legislature alone this ses-
<br />sion-Io SlOp Ihe Iransfers from ru-
<br />ral counlies to cities. And an
<br />invOitmenl in waler can be devalued
<br />quickly ifit rains.
<br />Before Jeans ever SCC\ the S27.S
<br />million from Wa~h()(' Coun!Y. he
<br />must surmount a number of hurdles.
<br />The biggest is 10 calm fears of farm-
<br />ers in neighboring Lassen County.
<br />Calif.. that he will be draining water
<br />from their propeny. They are likely
<br />10 try to block the Iran~ction if a
<br />U.S. Geological Survey sludy_deter_
<br />mines that the deal involving Jeans's
<br />ranch on Ihe Nevada ~ide of Hont-y
<br />Lakt- Valley would deplele waler on
<br />tht- California ...ideofthe valley.
<br />Says Lassen County Supervi<,or
<br />Helen Williams: "We don'l wanl to
<br />hecomt- another Owens Valley," re-
<br />fernng to a caulionary ~Iory of how
<br />furn-of-Ihe-ct-nlury Los Angeles
<br />bought up water from nearby Ow-
<br />ens Valley, Those transactions
<br />hdpc:d build Ihe clly, bul some say
<br />Ihey also led 10 the de....astalion of
<br />the thri....ing agricultural valley.
<br />"Water i~ nOI 3 great capilal ri~k,"
<br />says Jeans. "I(,s so highly polHical
<br />because it's a nece~sily here,"
<br />
<br />seUlhe rights to their waler allotments.
<br />In many places. il has nOl gone smoothly,
<br />because emotions run high.
<br />Consider the case ofThornlon, Colo., a
<br />fast-growing suburb of Denser. Two
<br />year... ago, Mayor M3rgarer Carpenter
<br />had the cilY shellllut $60 million to buy
<br />21.(XX) acres of farmlanJ-JustlO get the
<br />rights 10 ils allotmenl for irngallon. It
<br />seemt"d like for~ighl, but it W3S Jlso a
<br />high.risk gamble that now has nCI~hbor
<br />squarc-d off agamst neighbor. lit-fore
<br />Thornlon re5idenls ever tasle any (If the
<br />waler, the transaCllon must be aprroved
<br />by Colorado's unique Water Court-a
<br />rrocess Ihal could take a decade.
<br />In addition, \\ ~ile Ihe farmers who
<br />sold Ihelr land 10 the cily are cOlllent 10
<br />reI Ire on Iheir prolits, other farmt'r~ in
<br />rural Weld County are fighting the sale
<br />for fear il iSJu..tlhe ..tarl of a raid on their
<br />waler. Opponents led by the Northern
<br />Colorado Waler Conservancy Di..lnct, a
<br />regional waler agency thai serves ..e....en
<br />agril;ultural coUnllt"i, are chaJlengwg lhe
<br />contract and will seck 10 halt C(ln~truc-
<br />lion of a 50-mile pIpeline neceS~:iry to
<br />carry Ihe water to Thornlon. Meanll.hile,
<br />Thornlon has hiked its waler ralt."S 30
<br />percenlsince the sale, in large part !Opay
<br />for the farmland. Says Larry Simpson, of
<br />the waler agency: "The cillztns of
<br />Thornlon were fed a lme. They thought
<br />Ihey were gelling acheap watcr supply."
<br />MllagfO beanfletds. For small farmers,
<br />it's nOI a mallt-r of urban vs. rural priori-
<br />ties bUI a fight forsurvi\'al. Why,th~.>' ask,
<br />..hould they forfeil water so thai cilY
<br />dwellers-living in a desert region-ean
<br />havt- green lawns and full ,>wlmmmg
<br />pt.1OIs? In New Mell.ico, lIi"panic sub..is-
<br />tencefarmersarefightlng"MilagroOean-
<br />fidd War"-slyle bailie.. agam"l cHics and
<br />de....e1oper... AI "lake i.. control of the
<br />water in irrigation ditches, called ace-
<br />quia.., which are e....en blesst-d by pne\ts al
<br />)'early cleansing rituals. Says Fred Wall1.,
<br />an attorney represenling small farmers
<br />against state alfempts to di....ert more of
<br />the water for development: "If they 10<.('
<br />their water, Ihey 10<.(' their farm.... They
<br />lose their way of life."
<br />The new national water war ..urdy will
<br />claim \'icllms, and that'!Io what makes it '>0
<br />heated-and so tragic. "We run on a
<br />'hydro-illogical' cycle," ..ays Gilbert
<br />Cochran, a Umverslly of Nevada hydrol-
<br />ogist. "When there's ph:nty, there's apa-
<br />lhy; with shorlagC'i,lhere\ panic," Coch.
<br />ran and 01 her water ell.p(:rts say that it's
<br />an open quesllon \\hether this war's
<br />drought wlil fnrcecommunilie..1O f~~'e up
<br />10 the tough logical I;hoice\ neCt,",sary 10
<br />manage beller an incrca~lIlgly prC1:lous
<br />and Sl:arce re~()urce. .
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<br />byJosepnP ShaP<t'o""nIAI>Cf.ll c...o"o
<br />,,,SlInF'anc'!.CO,J,,'ryM,,II'''y,nN,,*vor_
<br />a"<lJul,,,r+a,'S1on,,,Allanl;l
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<br />US NEWS" wORLD REPORT, M;l1 30. 19811
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