LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

October 2006

To read this entire item of approximately 1200 words online now in PDF format: Click here to read this item if you are an existing subscriber to this publication. Click here to purchase the full text of this item to read now (price: $25). To subscribe to this publication and immediately access all its archives including this item, select the relevant publication under 'Catalogue' in the left-hand column PLEASE NOTE: to read PDFs on www.argento.com you must be using Version 5 of Acrobat Reader or Adobe Reader. If you have an earlier version you can download the latest free of charge by clicking here

Colorado Legislature Paves the Way for Adjudication of Rotational Crop Management Contracts to Facilitate Agricultural-to-Municipal Water Transfers while Continuing Historical Irrigation

As the populations of Colorado’s municipalities on the East Slope of the Continental Divide boom, the urban water utilities continue to purchase senior irrigation water rights, dry-up historically irrigated acreage and permanently change the senior water rights for municipal purposes to satisfy the increased municipal demands. In fact, this practice is not limited to just municipalities but can be found throughout Colorado and the West. These “buy-and-dry” transfers have left barren large swaths of previously irrigated land and have created severe hardships for local communities that relied on agricultural production. These transfers have also left urban water utilities cash-strapped as they purchase water to meet projected demand in the driest years even when they have ample supplies to cover the projected demand.