Getting All the Stakeholder Around the Table to Discuss Water

The Poudre Water Sharing Group, made up of representatives from representatives from urban, irrigation companies, city utilities and special districts and agriculture have been working for the past two and a half years examining possible alternative water transfer methods that might work in Poudre basin. The group recently issued a report detailing what they learned and their recommendations for the future. Colorado State University’s Water Colorado Water Institute Policy and Collaboration Specialist MaryLou Smith shares more
Smith: “Nobody wants to take away the right of a farmer to sell her or his land or water. But we wondered if we couldn’t help develop another market that could keep that water in the Poudre Basin. So the group began talking about and brought others into the conversation about the idea of some sort of entity that could raise enough money whether public or public/private combination that would be available to purchase those lands and that water when a farmer is determined to sell it. But instead of selling for say a development or to have it then pipped from the Poudre Basin down south; to keep that water and land in farming for the most part. But to have an option for some of the water to be used on a rotating basis for urban needs, especially during drought years. That concept really caught on and many were excited but it also brought up a lot of questions.”