Water shifting from agricultural to municipal, industrial use
Untitled
By Randy Buhler
Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
Logan County Agent (Agronomy)
At a recent watershed meeting, a handout was provided summarizing information presented at the Colorado Ag Outlook Forum briefing on the Ag Water Summit. Some of the information developed for that briefing can be useful to those planning their future in agriculture. The basic message was that water would shift from agricultural use to municipal and industrial use, which is not anything new. The details are the interesting part of the briefing.
The report used a base year of 2000 for irrigated acres in Colorado. The acre-feet of water diversions were listed. Next to that was listed the identified new demand for municipal and industrial water use for the year 2030. From those figures, they calculated the projected change in irrigated acreage for the year 2030. These numbers are from the Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI).
By the year 2030, the population of Colorado is expected to grow by 2.8 million people. The Front Range area within the South Platte basin is expected to have 2 million of those additional people.
About 3 million out of Colorado's 10.5 million acres of cropland are irrigated. Irrigated acres produce over two-thirds of the total value of Colorado crops. Livestock feeding is dependent on irrigated forages to supply the bulk in feedlot cattle rations. Wet distiller grain byproduct from ethanol production can only replace a small amount of the total forage component for feedlot rations.
The shift in water use will have a significant impact on total agricultural production in Colorado and especially in the South Platte basin. The value of an acre-foot of water will increase substantially. New water storage projects are likely. Water rights to store that water will have to come from existing water rights.
As increasing demand for scarce water rights develops, you should be aware of the true market value of that water. You should expect and get fair value for any water rights you sell. Investigate the water market before committing to sell any water right.
Date: 3/23/06
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