Friday, August 28, 2015

Editorial - Wolf in sheep’s clothing?

Last week, a new era of uncertainty was ushered in along the Fort Lyon Canal when 14,600 acres of farmland was sold to Arkansas River Farms LLC.

The $45 million purchase has Southeastern Colorado agricultural and conservation interests on edge. Arkansas River Farms is an affiliate of C&A Companies and Resource Land Holdings. Water speculator and developer Karl Nyquist is a principal with C&A Companies, the parent company of GP Water, which has resources on the Lamar Canal and in 2011 announced plans to move water to various Front Range communities. While Arkansas River Farms apparently has indicated it will continue to use the Fort Lyon Canal water for agricultural purposes, the company bears watching.

Farming is a profitable business right now, so it makes financial sense for Arkansas River Farms to use the available water for farming and ranching. But the agricultural markets can be fickle, as prices and input costs rise and fall on a regular basis. If farming and ranching becomes less profitable down the road, there’s no telling what will happen with the valuable Fort Lyon Canal water.

The Fort Lyon Canal water has been targeted for moving northward since 2006, when Pure Cycle purchased the local land and proposed a pipeline to developments near Aurora. Nothing has come of the transfer idea yet, but the recent sale intensifies the threat to Arkansas Valley water resources because of the deep pockets of Nyquist and his affiliated real estate and development companies. 

It’s reasonable to assume that the long-term intentions of Arkansas River Farms may be to dry up land and move water. But the exportation of this critical agricultural water would be nothing short of devastating to the entire region. 



No comments: