Something BAD is happening to Colorado Agriculture

This is the scripted message we are urging all concerned Coloradoans to call Governor Bill Ritter's office today and Monday:

GOVERNOR, DON'T LET THE LEGISLATURE GO HOME EARLY WITHOUT DEALING WITH THE SOUTH PLATTE WELL CRISIS. COLORADO CONSUMERS AND THE COLORADO ECONOMY ARE THE BIG LOSERS. GOVERNOR, THE WATER IS THERE. ASK FOR LEGISLATURE FOR A SIMPLE, TARGETED MORATORIUM TO MAINTAIN AGRICULTURE, WHILE YOU STUDY THE ISSUE.

GOVERNOR BILL RITTER PHONE: 303 866 2471

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Disease is not an entity, but a fluctuating condition of the patients body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self healing tendency of the body......Hippocrates

Wow, that's scary.

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It is a huge crisis, Marilyn. Thank you for starting this thread!

Water is a HUGE issue. There is just never enough. And they keeping building! Not little homesteads; massive subdivisions.

Cyngbaeld: It isn't illegal to use graywater, but they have very strict rules about how it can be done. You're supposed to have a holding tank, let it sit for a certain number of hours before using, etc. Needless to say, we're outlaws on this one! Same goes for the that rain barrel. (SHHH...don't tell!)

Here in Southern Colorado, we're dealing with the threat of eminant domain and the government expanding the Army's manuever site, also. Over 100 farms/ranches are threatened on that one (many of them Centennial farms).

I guess city folk think that food grows out of those little styrofoam packages!

PHL

Trixie
There are a lot of 'water districts' popping up around Texas. The reason, from what I can ascertain, is to protect our water from cities and corporations. Currently, I own all the water that falls from the sky, and all of the water resources under my property. If I sink a well, I can suck as much as I want out, irregardless (love that word ) of what it does to my neighbors wells. Some of the bottled water folks will find someone with sweet water, and buy water from them for a pittance, or buy the property next door, sink a well and drain it dry, causing surrounding wells to dry up. The water districts supposedly have the right to curb the practice. Houston and DFW are using more water than there's available. They sank a six foot pipeline from Toledo Bend last year, to ship water north.

Large scale agriculture left the south, where we have abundant rainfall, when westerners (especially California, with the free desert entry lands, after WW2) found out they could raise crops inexpensively in semi arid lands, with the pumping systems (center pivot) that could mine water resources. Now that water resources are getting tight in s CA, people are starting to look at how cheap the farmers get their water, compared to what they have to pay. Of course, now the whole country is hooked on California produce.

When the aquifers/rivers dry up, there are too many people wanting what they use to have... and unfortunately, in a democracy, the people speak... and there are more city folks than farmers... if you think it's rough in CO and elsewhere in the states, just google "australian drought" ...farmers there are going to lose their herds, their farms, orchards, everything...

It may not appear that I'm on your side Marilyn, but I am... but it looks like the handwriting is on the wall. I daresay 99% of the city folk could care less if their sweetcorn comes from Colorado or Peru.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

There certainly is handwriting on the wall, Texican, and I know you're probably sympathetic(not much for encouragement though LOL), but you know I just don't feel like rolling over and giving in......and saying oh well, it's hopeless. I have this passion to hold on and keep holding on, keep trying and not giving up. I am known for my extreme stubborness and I guess it is good for something. I just don't want to have to say to my grandkids one day that I did NOTHING to ward off this injustice. I realize that there is a huge power beyond municipalities and developers(you know control the food control the people) that wants farmers to go away. It is apparent by the politicians that normally would be on our side, who are running scared and have backed off and faded into the woodwork. You just know that something is frightening the heck out of them.

Our state to have to depend on other states for food is JUST NOT WISE or SENSIBLE. It is horribly foolish to put it mildly.

Oh yes, and we are losing our herds, farms, lifetime investments here and lives too. A farmer neighbor of ours came home from a water meeting and killed himself. It's bad here, depression amoung our neighbors is rampant.

I guess I am an activist and just realized it.

" The humblest citizen of all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause is stronger than all the hosts of error." William Jennings Bryan

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Disease is not an entity, but a fluctuating condition of the patients body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self healing tendency of the body......Hippocrates

From a press release that Water Users Defense Committee released on thursday, May 3................THE GREAT ESCAPE.........

In recent years, the Colorado Legislature has prided itself in finishing early, and this year is no different. House speaker Andrew Romanoff said, "It would be the first time in the history of the 120 day session that we shave five days off the legislative session and save the taxpayers a good chunk of change in return." It costs the taxpayers $15,887 each day the general assembly is in session, ending Friday would save more than $79,000. The big rush to get home for the summer my come at the expense of ALL Coloradoans.

Legislators have clamined "it's too late". They claim "we don't have time" to consider the Water Users Defense committee's appeal for a simple fix to the impending economic disaster faced by the ag economy in the South Platte Valley and economic collapse that will be felt by all Coloradoans, even those of the Front Range Communities.

The Colorado legislature has thus far refused to seriously consider a moratorium on pumping restriciton for the 2007 growing season that will help keep South Platte farming operations viable and give legislators time to come up with water use policy that is fair to ALL rights. Legislators estimate that is would take 6 to 8 hours in committee and another 6 to 8 hours on the floor to develop, debate and pass such legislation in other words, less than two days of legislators' time valued at just under $32,000.

Meanwhile, the economic impact of vertually shutting down approximately 1000 South Platte irrigation wells and taking over 50,000 acres out of production is estimated at over 400 million dollars in direct farm revenue. Morgan county Economic developement Corporation recommends using a factor of 5 to 7 to calculate the overall economic impact. Legislator's rush to end the seeion early and get home to start their summer vacations will have created a more than 2 BILLION dollar hole in the Colorado economy.

But legislator's will save $32 grand and get home early. Is that what's important?

Arnold Good, chair of the Water Users Defense committee said, "We implore legislators to stay in Denver and get the job done."

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Disease is not an entity, but a fluctuating condition of the patients body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self healing tendency of the body......Hippocrates

When I lived in Mesa county they flat refused to even consider a holding tank of any sort or re-using grey water for any reason, no matter how it was treated. The only thing I was allowed to do with it was to run it to a standard septic tank/leach field. No deviation allowed. Here is a site with info on it:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06702.html

Sorry, Marilyn, didn't mean to hijack, just meant to explain that putting in a rain catch wouldn't solve your problem.

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I believe in God's willingness to heal.

Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)

As I said, I haven't been able to find anything on the bill stating the state owns all underground water - but it was a 'reliable source' - as they say.

Yes, I know about the water companies sucking up the water. Ozarka did that in CAnton and now around Lake Fork.
They said Pilgrim's did it when they had to dig their mega well because the lakes refused to sell them water for their plant.

Somehow, though, I just don't think whatever government organization is involved is doing it for our benefit. Big companies are buying up the underground water and surface water all over the world and it wouldn't surprise me to wake up and find out they had sold our water to China or Bechtel or some French company.

We have a permit to dig a well here at our home in the city limits - as soon as we get a few thousand we don't need, (soon, I hope) we are going to have it done. You can't hook it into your home's water system, but you can use it. I assume that is to prevent a backwash of untreated water into the city system. I fully intend to pump some into my kitchen for cooking and drinking if it is as good as the well water I have tasted around here.

When we were going through Oregon several years ago, it was raining cats and dogs, water was running everywhere and standing everywhere, so it had been raining some time. The farmers were still irrigating their crops. We found that strange and asked a man at a restaurant and he said if the farmer didn't use all his allotment of water, he wouldn't get as much next year.l I think it was from the Columbia river. I don't know if that is true, but it sounds just 'governmentish' enough to be true.

Anybody remember T. Boone Pickens?

Texas oil man, and corporate raider of years gone by. His name is turning up as the man to deal with in the Southwest when it comes to water, and water rights. It seems that he wants to be the middleman between mother nature, and the water user. His plan is to have everybody buy water (from him). Could be very interesting.

I never really knew what T Boone Pickens did, but his name does come up in water discussions often.

Would you really have a problem if you were not taking more than your share? I understand that the city folks want more than thier share but in truth if you used just the water that naturally arrives at your land would you have a problem?

Thanks for that link, Cyngbaeld. It's changed since we had some trouble a few years back. We upgraded our graywater "system" and that satisfied the health inspector. Definitely more restrictive.

Marilyn - Do you have anyone directly lobbying in Denver at the moment?

PHL

No one directly right now. We welcome anyone, who is concerned about the future of agriculture in Colorado, to join in. Contact me if you are interested.

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Disease is not an entity, but a fluctuating condition of the patients body, a battle between the substance of disease and the natural self healing tendency of the body......Hippocrates

Are you asking about only rain water and snow melt - no wells, creeks, rivers? If so, the answer is NO. I am in WY instead of CO, but we only get 10 inches of precipitation per year. You can not grow crops with that much water.

I also have a problem with "shares"...who is to say what my share is? We grow 200 acres of wheat, corn, oats, and alfalfa. Plus we have an acre garden and fruit trees and bushes. We also have stock that need watered. I have a high efficiency washing machine, only use the dishwasher when I need to sterilize jars, and do not run half loads of laundry. Our property is bordered on one side by the river, we have our water right piped in for 2 miles from the creek it is written on, and we have drilled 3 wells. Would our share be the same as the guy in town who is just watering his lawn?

Most farmers know how precious water is. We call it liquid gold. We pray for it daily, we watch the weather like it was God Himself speaking to us. Our very livelihoods depend on it. We do not waste it. Drive through this part of the world - most farms have dead lawns or bare dirt instead of sod. The only farms that have grass are pretty much those who either sell sod, or have fruit trees planted in the yard that need watered.

Now let's pretend that something terrible happens. Flu pandemic and towns are quarantined, the entire imported food supply is contaminated, the economy collapses and we are in a major depression - something that probably won't happen, but who knows. For whatever reason we can no longer import food to the nearby town. They took our water away so the town could water nice green lawns, have beautiful city parks and golf courses. Are they going to eat the grass, flowers and golf greens? Whereas if they had made local food production the priority there would have at least been food. At that point, they can't just say - we'll give you back the water so hurry and plant something. Crops don't spring up overnight, and what farmer is going to keep seed and equipment when he has been put out of business.

We are slitting our own throats in this country by sending everything over seas. If there were some weird plague that wiped out everyone over the age of 50, how many would know how to grow anything? Sew clothing? We are so dependent on being able to fork over the credit card that we have forgotten how to do for ourselves. If we ever need to it is not going to be pleasant.....

climbing off the soapbox now........sorry, but this is a pet peeve. Note to self - drink more coffee before signing on, LOL.

Rocky I agree with what you say but here is the problem ;I live downstream from you EVERYTHING you do to the water affects me.
You dam it up so its avaiable in the summer. ...I dont get the cleansing and revitalizing floods I need.
You use it in the summer.......I no longer see it go by my place in the summer except in the form of higher more oppresive humidity
You pump it out of a well .....that water no longer comes out of a spring a hundred miles away and helps my river run in summer.
You use it to water a desert and grow crops that dont naturally grow there.....my prices go down.
You pipe it to a suburb ....... 6,000,000 people live where they have no business
By the way Ive met a man in the desert that grows crops on LESS than 10 inches of water a year....even FRUIT TREES!

Reminds me of the on going battle between western Kansas and Colorado over the Arkansas River water rights. http://docket.medill.northwestern.ed...ves/000549.php

I remember water flowing in the river in by Garden City and Dodge City, probably back in the 70s, then the river bed was dry for so long, folks tried farming it. Plowing over the bed so that it looked just like part of their field also turning it into pasture for cattle.
Last time I was up that way (last September) the river was gone. I have not heard what's going on there now.

It is a sad situation.

Marilyn I hope all goes well for you. I have several relatives in Colorado, I will contact them with your information.

A lot of the fact that the lower Arkansas is dry is due to the invasive "salt cedar" or tamarack that was introduced from europe, I believe. In the 70's there were more wells pumping than ever and the river still ran good. Now due to the salt cedar, it is resticted and filling more with sediment every year.
It lines the banks of the river for a 1/2 mile on the sides taking untold amounts of water for survival. The fight with Kansas caused a lot of wells to shut down or if continued the well owner had to buy surface water to be exchanged for pumping rights.

It's still an ongoing battle here to keep our water. There is so much pressure from the front range cities to get it any way they can. If by some way we can keep it here eventually industry must come to it.

There is a lot of ill feelings torward the proposed expansion of the Pinyon Canyon maneuver site also. I don't know of any landowners or small towns in the vicinity involved, that wish to willingly sell their property, but the army has plans of taking it by eminant domain if it keeps going the way it is.

T. Boone Pickens (a Jew{http://www.middleeast.org/forum/fb-public/1/1241.shtml} scroll halfway down the page, but read the rest when you get a chance) has been buying up water rights in West Texas and S. Colorado for the past 10/15 years.

President Carter: the only president in the past 30 years that had any discernable progress for peace in the Middle East; suggested in his new book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" that it is Israel and not the Palestine that are responsible for the problems in the region. The response of the media was to call him an anti-semite.

This was written around a hundred years ago, but still has relevance today. Long read:

http://feastofhateandfear.com/archives/henry_ford.html

I don't really know that much about irrigated farming - so I really won't comment except to say that we are running out of water. It would behoove us to find/develop more crops that can be grown with less water.

That is one of the things that bothers me greatly about all the patenting and the GMO products. From what I hearing, there may be no wiggle room to develop other strains without their becoming contaminated, thereby taken over, by the GMO.

Also, everyone is going to have to learn how precious water is and that it is becoming more so. As I said the farmers are going to have to find other ways, the city people are going to have to understand they do not need an acre of green grass around their home or shrubs and plants that are just decorative.

I know a lady in one of the desert states who is one of the sweetest, most generous and giving people I know. She is truly concerned about the environment, endangered species. In general, a really wonderful person. She actually takes in strangers to her home and gets them an education, etc.

She lives in a probably 3 or 4 million dollar home (it could be much more) on about a 3 acre lot, in a gated community. Her lawn is like walking across a cushion, with trees and plants that were never intended to grow in that climate. She has a huge, huge swimming pool. The development is quite large, with huge common spaces. Those common spaces are all as beautful as her lawn. They are full of tropical plants and trees. None of these plants are producing food of any kind. They aren't even planted to provide shade or protection in any way. I mean as in helping utility bills, etc. They are just there to be pretty and they certainly are.

Meandering through this development is a 27 hole golf course.

I think there is enough water used to keep up all this to provide several farmers with the needed water to grow food and still for those people to have some beauty in their life.

It would be nice if we could do something before drastic action is forced on us.

Marilyn in CO. I am so sorry about your water problem. It doesn't make sense. Alternet has as article about multinationals buying up municipal water supplies. The title is Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water. Somebody might be making money on it. Alternet has a good reputation. Interested on environment.

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