From The Montrose Daily Press (Andrew Kiser):
Farmers have a taxing job growing crops due to water rights and, now, a multi-year drought, said Montrose County Commissioner Sue Hansen.
Those concerns were brought to the forefront during the Western Slope Water Summit — held Tuesday morning at the Montrose County Event Center. The group mostly discussed the water shortage and the drought crisis on the Western Slope.
Hansen said the county wanted farmers and producers to know about those challenges and about other potential obstacles under the new drought contingency plan…
As far as the effects of the drought, residents need look no further than the Gunnison River.
According to the Colorado River District, the river is snared between climate change-driven drought and overuse by the Lower Basin states to which a sure quantity of water must be transported each year, under the 1922 Colorado River Compact…
Andy Mueller, Colorado River District general manager, added the state’s farmers “are battling urban areas for their livelihood.”
“I think we, as an Upper Basin, need to put the hammer down and need to call them out in terms of what they’re doing,” he said.