From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
An El Paso County water district could be used to fund a plan to build reservoirs on the Arkansas River in Pueblo County. Two Rivers Water and Farming Co. has acquired all of the land inside the Sunset Metropolitan District near Colorado Springs and plans to use the district’s bonding capacity to build reservoirs on the Arkansas River near Avondale. Two Rivers plans to amend the Sunset district’s service plan to focus on rotational farm fallowing in the Arkansas River Basin, CEO John McKowen said in a press release last week.
The plan includes changing the district’s name to Farm-City Metropolitan District and using the district’s bonding capacity to finance water infrastructure projects that support rotational farm fallowing, he said. The district has a bonding capacity of $130 million, with no bonds currently outstanding. It was originally formed to provide water to a housing development. “The district’s service plan will be amended so farmers can build and comanage the water infrastructure that supports farmers,” McKowen said.
Collaborative rotational farm fallowing agreements between farmers and municipalities make surplus urban water available for irrigation and conversely make irrigation water available for urban use during droughts without permanently drying up farmland.
Two Rivers is in discussions with the Pueblo Board of Water Works, Colorado Springs Utilities and others to develop 25,000 acre-feet of new storage. Two Rivers expects to acquire properties on which it will construct gravel pit reservoirs and lease a portion of the water storage space to municipalities in exchange for being provided longterm leases of excess municipal water to be used for irrigation. Two Rivers anticipates restoring as much as 25,000 acres of farmland in Pueblo County, planting a mix of high yield and higher value vegetable and fodder crops.