Current affairs on state water On Labor Day in 2006, Wes Palmer, foreman at Skylark Ranch outside of Kremmling, single-handedly dried up the Colorado River. Palmer opened the head gate to the ranch's irrigation ditch and cut the already low flow by about 40 percent. When he was done collecting some of the fall allotment for the Skylark, there was barely enough water to wet the rocks in the riverbed. "It was a holiday weekend and the fishing lodges were full, and I dried up the Colorado," Palmer said, shaking his head. The episode underscores the delicate balance in the upper Colorado and Fraser rivers, which supply both Grand County and Front Range cities and suburbs. It is a balance Grand County officials and managers for Denver Water and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District are trying better to strike. The two sides of the Continental Divide are engaged in a first-of-its-kind negotiation over moving more water to the Front Range — the two water companies are planning $410 million in new projects to provide an extra 16 billion gallons — while protecting the mountain streams and rivers....