Task force won't suggest opening wells
Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News
Friday, September 7, 2007
New tools for monitoring the South Platte River, spot markets for trading extra water quickly and more opportunities to bank water are among the recommendations a river task force will make at the end of September.
But the group, charged with finding ways to manage the river so that surface water users and well owners can co-exist, stopped short of recommending farmers be allowed to restart irrigation wells shut down by the state.
It also did not recommend giving the state's top water regulator more flexiblity in managing the war-torn river.
Still, Harris Sherman, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said important proposals to make the river work better are now on the table.
"Every small step is helpful," said Sherman, who co-chaired the group along with Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture John Stulp. "This is an extremely difficult situation. Within the framework of water we have available, these are helpful steps."
The 23-member panel, named by Gov. Bill Ritter in June, finished its work Thursday after more than seven hours of hearings.
Well owners pull water from a shallow aquifer that also supplies the river. Facing drought, surface users sued to force the state to tighten oversight of the wells and require them to put more water back into the river.
Owners of thousands of wells were unable to do so, so the state shut them down or sharply reduced their supply.
Water recommendations
• Provide more funding for new computer models to help monitor and predict how irrigation wells and the aquifer interact with the river.
• Overhaul the state's water court system, which often requires years and tens of thousands of dollars to get plans approved.
• Expand programs that pay farmers to voluntarily dry up land to reduce water use. Fund program via taxes farmers impose on themselves.
• Create a spot market so that when extra water is in the system, it can be sold to farmers who need it quickly, without lengthy reviews.
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