Cities blasted on water 'spies'

Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 26, 2006 at midnight

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LONGMONT - The head of a water district serving South Platte River farmers lashed out at Boulder and Highlands Ranch on Wednesday, blaming them for "spy campaigns" and water practices that are driving family farms out of business.

Tom Cech, manager of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, stirred up an otherwise sedate gathering at the 17th annual South Platte Forum with a speech criticizing efforts by Front Range cities to investigate whether farmers in his district illegally pumped wells.

"Spies are now in the backyards of farm families that have been producing food for our state for generations," Cech said. "It's a sad state of affairs when a few out-of-control municipal water providers try to take the law into their own hands."

Cech's comments, which drew sharp rebukes from some at the meeting, were the latest salvo in a long-running fight between his district and other water users in the basin. The fight peaked this spring when the state engineer shut down 440 wells in the district, drying up tens of thousands of acres of cropland in Weld, Morgan and Adams counties.

At the heart of the conflict is a claim by some cities and farmers with senior water rights that farmers in the central district are pumping water they are not entitled to, drying up the river, and depriving others of their water.

The battle took another tension-filled turn earlier this month, when farmers in the central district learned that private investigators were in the region, trying to determine whether they were illegally pumping from wells.

Carol Ellinghouse, a water official from Boulder, said that Cech is trying to win a public relations war by portraying the issue as one pitting water-rich cities against poor, desperate farmers - an inaccurate view that distorts a complex matter, she said.

What's more, she said, Cech's effort to draw sympathy with stories of spies watching water use on family farms is part of a distraction campaign.

"That's been their strategy all along - to point the finger at someone else and hope nobody notices what they're doing," Ellinghouse said.

During a question-and-answer session, an attorney representing senior water-rights holders asked Cech when his district would come up with ways to comply with the law instead of "taking cheap shots at cities."

"I call 'em like I see 'em," Cech responded.

During his speech, Cech argued that cities challenging the central district could do more to help the farmers struggling with their water supplies.

"It's time to stop the nonsense and solve our current water crisis in a way future generations can talk about with pride, and not with ridicule," he concluded.

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