Farmers throughout the Great Plains are preparing for what could be a tough growing season. They鈥檙e in a tight spot with irrigation water, due to the region鈥檚 persistent drought.
In drought years, cities hold on to their water supplies, selling little to no water to farmers. That forces many growers to limit the acres they plant and cut back on the number of workers they hire to get seeds in the ground and harvest crops in the fall.
In eastern Colorado, the situation鈥檚 even more dire. Thirsty cities have gobbled up water rights for decades, selling what they don鈥檛 need back to farmers, usually in the form of a lease back program.
But that only works when there鈥檚 plenty of water to go around.
Kent Peppler grows corn and barley in the small town of Mead, Colo., which sits about an hour north of Denver. He鈥檚 seen the change firsthand. His neighborhood looks a lot different from how it appeared in the early 1970s, when he was growing his first crop of cucumbers as a teenager. Back then farmland and irrigation water was easy to come by.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 all houses. No more cukes,鈥� Peppler said.
Housing development outside Mead has encroached on land used for agriculture for close to a century. Agricultural irrigation ditches commingle with houses and driveways, because of the drought many of those ditches will have less water.
"We're going to gamble with it and hope that we get a little irrigation water and maybe a timely rain or two. But the prognosis is not very good this year."
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to gamble with it and hope that we get a little irrigation water and maybe a timely rain or two,鈥� Peppler said. 鈥淏ut the prognosis is not very good this year.鈥�
Snowpack, and long-term precipitation forecasts drive yearly water allotments. When those numbers are released in mid-April, cities determine whether they鈥檒l have enough water to sell to farmers.
Peppler only owns about half the water he uses every year. This upcoming summer, it doesn鈥檛 look like there鈥檚 going to be any extra water from cities.
鈥淭here鈥檚 less water in the reservoirs and less water in the stream,鈥� said Jon Monson, Water and Sewer Director for the city of Greeley, which is completely surrounded by farmland.
Over the years, Greeley鈥檚 been buying up agricultural water rights. After the city meets its customers鈥� demands the leftover water is auctioned to farmers.
鈥淚n normal years, we don鈥檛 need all this water and it should go to beneficial use in terms of agriculture production,鈥� Monson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 only in those drought years, like this one might be, that we need to pull it back and use it for municipal supplies.鈥�
This is part of a larger trend. Cities have been buying up water rights ever since the first farmers started growing crops on the state鈥檚 eastern plains.
"The saying goes in Colorado that water runs uphill towards money. And that water that鈥檚 running uphill goes toward cities that have the money."
鈥淭he saying goes in Colorado that water runs uphill towards money. And that water that鈥檚 running uphill goes toward cities that have the money. It鈥檚 not the farmers that can afford to pay the going rate for water in this state any more,鈥� Brian Werner, a spokesman for the Northern Water Conservancy District, which supplies water to close to a million people in Northeastern Colorado.
Buying water rights on the open market now is incredibly expensive. Cities can afford the hefty price tag. Farmers often times cannot. Water used in the Colorado-Big Thompson project, Colorado鈥檚 largest water distribution project, currently costs about $20,000 per acre foot, or 325,000 gallons, to purchase the rights. Most years farmers pay about $30 per acre foot to rent the water from cities.
Werner said with the tight water rental market, many farmers will be forced to leave portions of their land fallow this growing season.
鈥淚f that land doesn鈥檛 get planted, there鈥檚 going to be a significant impact on the economy,鈥� Werner said.
Farmer Kent Peppler fully understands that economic impact. He鈥檚 already planning for a dry spring and summer. He鈥檒l plant fewer fields and hope corn and barley prices stay high.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still businesspeople first and farmers second. That鈥檚 the attitude you have to have or you don鈥檛 survive in this business,鈥� Peppler said.
Many of his neighbors in this farming community have moved away over the years, selling their land and water to developers. He said he鈥檚 not looking to leave any time soon, but everything鈥檚 for sale for the right price.
That price, in a drought year, is always on the rise.
