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State shuts farmers' wells down'Living the nightmare'--Farmers fighting back in water war FORT MORGAN, Colo. (AP)--Dan Wacker misses the crops that once covered his 80-acre farm, the ones that have withered and died since the state turned off his wells. He wants his water back. Nina Guthrie was forced to sell her farm and she wants the state to pay for her loss. The two were among about 100 farmers and their wives, some of them nearing bankruptcy, who gathered to find out what they could do after the state shut down hundreds of wells on the Eastern Plains because Front Range communities and farmers with senior water rights claimed the most precious resource in the West. The news this night was grim. The farmers were told they need to accept the fact they won't get their water back and the only satisfaction they're going to get is if they sue the state. "If you think you're going to file a takings case and get water, you're confused," said Chuck Miller, a property rights activist. He urged the farmers to form coalitions and file lawsuits. State officials said the farmers have little chance of collecting. State water engineer Hal Simpson has said he's not taking away their water, he's just setting limits on how much they can use. This has been a long, awful summer for farmers along the South Platte River growing wheat, corn, sugar beets and melons. Many had already planted when the state engineer issued a forecast anticipating lower-than-average flows in the river, leading to the shutdown of wells drawing water that would otherwise flow into the northeastern Colorado river. When river levels are low, the wells must be turned off to ensure that water users with higher-priority rights get their share. State law allows the wells to be used--as long as they can replace water when it's needed downstream. The state engineer for 30 years had been able to juggle the state's water supply to keep farmers happy and the South Platte flowing. But this spring, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a 1969 law requiring well owners to put water back into the South Platte. Guthrie, 80, said production on her 550 acres near Fort Morgan dropped when the state cut the number of acres she could irrigate from her well to 140 acres, and she decided to sell. "It was a losing proposition. We put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that farm," she said wistfully. Wacker, gingerly opening a manila envelope that contained his farm's life history, said he has put a lot of effort into growing corn, alfalfa and small grains on land he reclaimed eight years ago from grassland. Now the fields are turning to dirt--ashes to ashes, dust to dust--and there is nothing he can do about it. Wacker said he had ditch water, but had to sell it so he could continue to use his wells, which have been cut from 100 acre feet a year to just 24. An acre-foot is the amount of water that would cover an acre to a depth of 1 foot, and is generally enough to supply up to two households for a year. "There are more farm sales every year," Wacker said. "This is not going to continue much longer." Vera Lewis, a feisty, 82-year-old woman who has grown crops near Snyder since 1972, said she was forced to buy more land just to get enough water to keep her 120-acre farm going. She got mad and sued the state in district court, claiming it owes her money for taking her water. The lawsuit is pending. "I want the state to give me back the right to use my wells, and I want compensation for the time I couldn't use them," she said, gritting her teeth. Miller told the farmers they must put their stories in writing if they hope to win their lawsuits. They also need to track down the previous owners and get their stories, and find records and photos of previous water use on their land to prove they once had plenty of water and have lost the use of that resource. "Your story is the life history of the land you own," Miller said. Miller said he can't file lawsuits for farmers, they must do it themselves. He said they will have a better chance of winning in court if they form groups with similar stories. "You must get to the point where you can say 'yes, the state has the right to do what it's doing, but not without proper compensation,'" he told farmers. That was hard to accept for Margey Knievel, who was forced to sell her farm equipment in 2003 when the state shut off her wells. She said she and her husband had a tearful meeting with their son recently to tell him there was no longer a future for him in farming. "I'm living the nightmare. When we auctioned off the equipment, that was a hard day," she said. "If the state built a highway on my land, or someone drilled for oil, they'd have to compensate us. How can they ruin a farmer's life, ruin the land and not compensate them for that?' Date: 8/23/06
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