Cool weather aiding farmers after state shutdown of wells

West Slope water purchase may stave off crisis for some

Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 23, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

More stories »

Crops left without water because of a state-ordered shutdown of irrigation wells are holding their own, growers said Monday, even as they paid $700,000 to bring water from the Western Slope to help ease the potential crisis.

"The crops are very young, and we're still having cool nights," said Dave Petrocco, a Brighton vegetable grower.

"It's premature to speculate about how much of this crop will be lost," he said.

The West Slope water will benefit only those farmers who can apply it directly to their fields - or roughly half of the 200 farms affected by the shutdown, according to the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, whose farmers operate the wells.

Farmers who rely solely on wells won't benefit from the extra water yet because they don't have state approval to restart their wells, something that may not occur in time to save the crops.

At the same time, cities such as Boulder and Highlands Ranch and some farmers continue to object to restarting the wells, saying it's not clear whether the well owners have come up with enough water to compensate for their pumping.

Boulder and Highlands Ranch officials did not return calls Monday.

But last week they said it would take several days for them to evaluate the farmers' plan, and lawyers for both sides spent several hours talking Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, a small mobile home park in Fort Morgan has continued to pump its wells in defiance of the state because 90 percent of the drinking water for its 500 residents comes from them.

"I've spent $40,000 since 2002 (to comply with the new law)," said Bernie Pagel, who owns the mobile home park.

Pagel and other members of the district have raised their property taxes and paid $5,000 per well to comply with a new state law designed to protect the South Platte River.

All told, the district has invested more than $19 million, lining gravel pits and buying water rights to create a permanent operating plan, as the new law requires.

But their temporary operating plan was rejected by the state May 5 - after many had planted crops - because of the cities' concerns and because of the droughtlike conditions that have descended on the river in recent weeks.

State officials said Pagel may qualify for a 90-day-exemption from the shutdown order because his wells are the residents' primary source of drinking water. But he will still have to find water to compensate for pumping his wells, which rely on the same shallow aquifer that supplies the South Platte.

That's not much comfort to Pagel.

"I don't understand it," he said. "We have the water and the money, but no one will work with us."

smithj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5474

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News