Day: November 20, 2024

The Case for Temporary Water Sharing — #Colorado Water Trust

Three generations looking out over their farm. Photo credit: Colorado Water Trust

Click the link to read the article on the Colorado Water Trust website (Dana Hatfield):

November 12, 2024

As a representative for Colorado Water Trust, I often get asked if our purpose is to buy and dry up agricultural water rights and land. My response to that is Colorado Water Trust is a small but highly productive nonprofit organization with a seven-person team and a $1 million core budget. We are much too small to go around purchasing water rights. But what we can do is lease water and build relationships. Being able to consider the use of temporary solutions with our over fifty project partners every year makes our work possible and puts millions of gallons of water back in rivers today.

Also in response to that question, I provide an explanation of how the majority of our projects are temporary and voluntary solutions which aim to safeguard farmers and ranchers’ water rights and provide flexibility and economic incentive. We do sometimes have permanent projects that change water rights from irrigation to environmental flow when desired by the project partners, or permanent water sharing agreements with agriculture where we may use the water rights in the fall for environmental flow instead of irrigation. But, generally, our projects are temporary and always voluntary. I explain that we make the process of working with us an ongoing conversation and relationship – not a forever done deal. And hopefully, if I have managed to keep their attention and explain it well, they are pleased to hear about the customized and supportive approach that Colorado Water Trust takes to working with agriculture. 

We have several temporary arrangements in partnership with agricultural producers today. A simple explanation of how these projects work is that they typically operate in any five years of a ten-year period after we sign an agreement (per Colorado legislation). Then in winter of each year, we follow the snow-pack to predict what the flow levels will likely be at the farm or ranch’s local stream. Depending on projections, we start our conversation early in the year to determine whether extra water will be needed in the stream and if the farmer or rancher would be open to foregoing using their water for part or all of the upcoming growing season. If so, we offer reimbursement for the water at fair market value. In some cases, we offer an additional incentive bonus for running the project and/or reimbursement for any crop loss due to halted irrigation. In either case, having this conversation early in the year allows the farmer or rancher to plan their year accordingly. 

Throughout this process, Colorado Water Trust staff ensures that the water is protected in this new, temporary use against abandonment or a reduction in value through the state’s use-it-or-lose-it water administration policy. And to the extent possible, we also work to ensure that the water is protected against other diverters taking it out as it flows downstream. All of this results in us being able to restore water to their local river, often transforming a small drying stream into a cool flowing waterway. This can rescue and protect stranded fish and restore surrounding ecosystems. It’s a powerful, ongoing partnership.

Many water rights owners have been skeptical of the environmental community’s perceived intentions of buying and drying up agriculture and there, historically, has been a great deal of mistrust in these types of agreements for that reason. But, it is worth noting that in recent years, we have seen a major increase in interest in these kinds of projects. Folks we never thought would be interested in working with us when I started at Colorado Water Trust 7 ½ years ago have been reaching out to talk and ask questions this past year. It’s amazing. And to top that, we are turning these projects around much faster than ever before. Negotiations and relationship building used to take several years – our first project with agriculture back in the early 2000’s took a decade to implement. Now, at times, we can turn these around within months. I attribute this success to our increased visibility and growing reputation (people are just more comfortable working with us), our project partners touting our collective success in working together throughout their communities, and our Program Team’s expertise in customizing the right solutions for differing operations. This year, our temporary agricultural water sharing projects will restore roughly 850 million gallons of water to Colorado’s rivers and streams. These projects can dramatically help maintain a healthy ecosystem – it’s important work and can save critical habitat and a generation of fish.

“Colorado Water Trust is doing something that benefits rural communities while creating flexibility within the legal system. Instead of looking at our water rights as something we can only keep or sell, Colorado Water Trust is helping us see them as another tool to make the water system sustainable. With their help, senior water rights can support rivers during low flows and be consumed on the ranch at other times while putting some money away in the bank, too.”
– Marsha Daughenbaugh Rancher at Rocking C Bar Ranch in Steamboat Springs and Colorado Water Trust Board Member

Three generations at Rocking C Bar Ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Photo credit: Colorado Water Trust

All this to say – there is immense benefit to temporary agricultural water sharing projects. They foster an incredible amount of relationship building and help break down barriers between conservation and agriculture. This bridging of the divide between environmental nonprofits and farms and ranches cannot be underestimated. Of the water that gets diverted from Colorado’s rivers, eighty percent of it goes to farms and ranches. They are crucial partners in environmental restoration work. We also need agriculture to thrive in order to protect our local economies and access to local food, and because farmers and ranchers are some of the best stewards of our land and water because of the invaluable pulse that they keep on the health of our local ecosystems. We need each other.

Our temporary and voluntary solutions are significantly impactful. It may be difficult to understand why these solutions are important and lasting when they are not permanent. I encourage people to think outside the box and recognize the power of these kinds of temporary solutions. Not only do they prevent harmful buy and dry schemes by offering meaningful, collaborative, and flexible options to irrigators, but they are also the effective solutions that work within our current water law system. Our prior appropriation system can be complex, rigid, and difficult to navigate. But these temporary agreements between conservation and agriculture work within that system.

Consider these benefits to temporary water sharing projects with agriculture:

  1. Lasting, collaborative relationships forged between river restoration agencies and agriculture. These temporary arrangements allow water rights owners to test the waters of environmental partnerships before committing to something more long-term.
  2. Helping our local agricultural economies to endure through tumultuous climate changes and providing them the opportunity to do so in a way that can also benefit their local rivers.
  3. A perpetual opportunity to impact some of our smaller streams and rivers in rural areas that can be hard to gain access to but are just as important to our overall environmental health in Colorado.
  4. Preventing buy and dry of agriculture and the permanent acquisition of land and water by developers by supporting farms and ranches with flexible, voluntary, and economically beneficial solutions.
  5. Guiding future legislation by showcasing how effective temporary solutions can be to encourage permanent state policies that support these kinds of agreements and offer increased flexibility for all parties.

As is often said about Colorado Water Trust – we are a do-tank, not a think-tank. We get a lot done within our current water law system. We have restored well over 24 billion gallons of water to Colorado’s rivers and streams throughout the last 23 years. We have built up our reputation among the agricultural community and are getting projects on the ground faster than ever before in ways that benefit both our farms, ranches, AND our rivers. We believe strongly in the lasting impacts of these relationships and projects. Because, with the threat of climate change upon us and a decreasing water supply, there has never been a more important time to build permanent bridges for the benefit of our people and our environment.

Dr. Norm Evans Lecture Series 2024: Can the river community meet the challenge — the collision of law and #ClimateChange? (Pat Mulroy) #ColoradoRiver #COriver

Updated November 20, 2024 to include video of the lecture.

Ms. Mulroy’s lecture yesterday evening focused on increasing water supply in the Lower Basin (after setting the stage with the reality of a declining Colorado River due to climate change). One solution she offered was a pipeline from northwest Mexico to the Imperial Valley. The water would be used to replenish the Salton Sea and then be desalted for irrigation to lessen the diversion of water from the Colorado River in the Imperial Valley. The Imperial Irrigation District holds the largest water rights on the river and is an important source of food for the U.S. so her solution is an attempt to keep them in production and also cutting Lower Basin diversions.

She acknowledges the costs involved and the problem of disposing of the brine but is convinced that conservation, while very important, cannot solve the crisis of a declining supply in the basin. She has observed desalination in the Middle East where it is piped across the landscape to meet demands. This is the solution that Cape Town has embraced since nearly hitting “Day Zero” a few years ago during a particularly long and deep drought.

Augmentation of the Lower Basin water supply would benefit the entire basin, she maintains, taking pressure off the Upper Basin which already shoulders the burden of reduced water supplies during drought years.

Desalination plant, Aruba, December 2004.
The 2024 Norm Evans Lecture was hosted by the Colorado Water Center at CSU Spur and featured distinguished speaker Pat Mulroy. Mulroy, former general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and negotiator for the state of Nevada on the Colorado River, discussed the challenges and opportunities for the Colorado River Community at the intersection of law and climate change.

TIME100 Climate 2024: Amy Bowers Cordalis, Founder and Executive Director, Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group

Amy Bowers Cordalis is many things: an attorney, a mother, a conservationist. But before all that, she was a member of the Yurok Tribe of California who grew up fishing on the Klamath River. Bowers Cordalis served as her tribe’s general legal counsel in its charge to dismantle four hydroelectric dams that were choking the river and the Indigenous people that depend on it. She helped negotiate with the dams’ owner, PacifiCorp, to seal the $550 million deal to demolish the dams and let the river heal. The dam removal project, the largest of its kind in history, was completed in August. Bowers Cordalis’ Indigenous conservation group, Ridges to Riffles, is now working with the Yurok Tribe to restore the waterway’s once-thriving fish population. Photo credit: Water Foundation

Click the link to read the article on the Time Magazine website (Amy Bowers-Cordalis). Here’s an excerpt:

November 12, 2024

Time: What is the single most important action you think the public, or a specific company or government (other than your own), needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda?

Bowers-Cordalis: The most critical action in advancing the climate agenda is to work directly with Indigenous nations and peoples. Climate, biodiversity, and conservation are deeply intertwined; solutions to the climate crisis often lie in protecting biodiversity and embracing local, nature-based solutions. Indigenous territories hold 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity because these lands, reserved for Indigenous use, have been shielded from development while allowing Indigenous stewardship practices to thrive. Indigenous peoples manage these resources with reverence, guided by traditional ecological knowledge passed down through generations and safeguarded by inherent tribal sovereignty.

Governments and corporations must move beyond the exploitation of Indigenous resources and conflict with Indigenous nations, and instead form partnerships that honor Indigenous legal rights, knowledge, and unique political status. This approach is strongly supported by tribal, U.S., and international law. Many tribes in the U.S. have sophisticated tribal law and court systems that codify ancient reciprocal relationships with nature and land management practices. U.S. treaties with tribes are the supreme law of the land, providing powerful legal tools to advance nature-based solutions to the climate crisis. Furthermore, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) affirms the indivisibility of human rights, sovereignty, natural resource stewardship, and planetary health. It underscores our responsibility to restore the environment for future generations and calls on governments to remedy past harms to both Indigenous peoples and the planet. To advance the arc of justice and healing, it is time for the United States and all countries to fully implement the UNDRIP, ensuring protection for Indigenous Peoples’ human rights and all of our responsibilities to future generations.

Klamath River dam removal, the largest river restoration project in U.S. history, is a prime example of the tremendous potential of supporting Indigenous-led, nature-based solutions. Indigenous grassroots activism and tribal leadership have driven history’s largest river restoration project. The $550 million agreement, made with one of the world’s largest power companies, resulted in the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. The agreement equally respects Indigenous rights, the rights of nature, business interests, and public needs. Removing the dams was less costly than upgrading them, resulting in lower power costs for consumers, restoring over 400 miles of spawning habitat, improving water quality, and reducing methane emissions. Importantly, it ensures that Indigenous peoples on the Klamath can continue their fishing way of life by restoring the lifeblood of our culture.

This type of collaboration shows that solutions honoring the rights of nature, Indigenous peoples, and business are not only possible but essential. Achieving this requires dismantling colonial systems that took lands and resources for profit, resulting in ecological destruction. By restoring balance through the mutual interests of Indigenous peoples, nature, and business, we can heal the planet.

Klamath River Basin. Map credit: American Rivers