{"id":100844,"date":"2018-03-25T14:03:19","date_gmt":"2018-03-25T20:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmers-ranchers-looking-at-cuts-to-irrigation-allocations\/"},"modified":"2018-03-25T14:03:19","modified_gmt":"2018-03-25T20:03:19","slug":"farmers-ranchers-looking-at-cuts-to-irrigation-allocations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmers-ranchers-looking-at-cuts-to-irrigation-allocations\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers, ranchers looking at cuts to irrigation allocations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The San Juan Mountains north of Durango hold less than 50 percent of normal snowpack this year \u2013 a perilous state for farmers and ranchers dependent on irrigation of fields and pastures.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ranchers and farmers dependent on irrigated water for their operations are preparing for a tough year, as they may receive just 50 percent of normal allocation.<\/p>\n

The situation is brighter for some and depends on which regional reservoir a farm or ranch draws its water from. Farmers drawing water from McPhee Reservoir on the Dolores River are holding out hope for a full allocation this season.<\/p>\n

Pleasant View-area farmer Travis Daves, who has 2,000 acres of irrigated farm land, plans to plant all 2,000 acres with alfalfa, corn and spring wheat.<\/p>\n

He is aided by the fact that McPhee, at about half full, is higher than normal for this time of year thanks to generous runoff from the winter 2016-17 snowpack. McPhee holds 381,000 acre feet, of which 229,000 are its active capacity, the volume of water that can be used for irrigation.<\/p>\n

Daves said if the small recent storms continue, farmers drawing water from McPhee will be all right. He\u2019s expecting a full allocation of irrigation water, which is about 22 inches per acre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re saying we\u2019ll get close to a full allocation. The worst-case scenario is for 70 percent,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to know how the next few weeks will go,\u201d he said, but he added the storm last weekend left 4 to 5 inches of snow on his farm.<\/p>\n

In addition, he said the long-range forecast is for a shift in the jet stream, allowing more storms into the Four Corners during this stingy La Ni\u00f1a winter.<\/p>\n

The outlook is less bright for those farming on the Florida Mesa and dependent on water from Lemon Reservoir.<\/p>\n

Phil Craig, who has 130 acres he plants with hay on the Florida Mesa, said the snow-water equivalent for Lemon is at 45 percent of the 30-year average, and he expects only a half allocation of irrigation water this year, which will take him through June or perhaps the Fourth of July before he runs dry.<\/p>\n

During a normal year, he has enough irrigated water to run through mid-September.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s planning for only one hay cutting this year, compared with three cuttings in a normal year.<\/p>\n

Craig, who is president of the board of directors of the Florida Water Conservancy District<\/a>, said his plans could change depending on good spring moisture and a good monsoon season, but right now, he\u2019s expecting just a single cutting.<\/p>\n

He generally runs 20 to 50 head of cattle, depending on conditions, and this year he\u2019s planning on 30 head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely not going to expand this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig said he\u2019s also heard people are considering stockpiling hay this year in preparation for another bad year next summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are assuming there won\u2019t be much hay next year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Like McPhee, Lemon, which holds about 40,000 acre feet, is about half full, which Craig says is helpful because usually this time of year, Lemon is about one-third full.<\/p>\n

Like Daves, Craig still holds out for the possibility the La Ni\u00f1a pattern will break down, offering generous April showers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen Aprils where we\u2019ve seen good amounts of snow, so it can happen. Anything\u2019s possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Steve Harris of Harris Water Engineering said regional reservoirs that are holding above-normal volumes of water compared to the average for this time of the year is what\u2019s providing some optimism that the growing season won\u2019t be completely lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cReservoirs are in OK shape, half or better filled,\u201d he said, the result of a good 2016-17 snowpack. But with lack of snowpack this year, he said most irrigation districts in Southwest Colorado will not be able to give full allocations. He said the districts are \u201cgenerally looking at 50 percent to 80 percent of normal allocation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cEssentially, it means you might not be able to irrigate after July.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said he expected hay and alfalfa growers to get only one or one-and-a-half cuttings this year compared to a normal year\u2019s three cuttings.<\/p>\n

The Pine River Irrigation District<\/a>, he said, is currently looking at about 80 percent of normal supply for irrigators.<\/p>\n

Again, he said, the reason the allocation is that high is because of the bountiful spring 2017 runoff.<\/p>\n

The major problem for irrigators will not be this year, but next year if Southwest Colorado gets two low snowpack years in succession, Harris said. He cited patterns in 2001 and 2002, the year of the Missionary Ridge Fire, and 2012 and 2013 as examples of back-to-back weak winters, with farmers able to muddle through subpar years in 2001 and 2012 only to be clobbered in 2002 and 2013 when irrigation rations were cut substantially.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the real hit may come is next year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRanchers and farmers are used to droughts,\u201d he said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s easy, but most can probably get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris said it\u2019s so late in the season, he doesn\u2019t hold out much hope for this winter\u2019s snowpack.<\/p>\n

The snowpack that will supply runoff to the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan rivers<\/a> is at 53 percent of normal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very unlikely we will get anywhere near a 30-year average. At this point, it would be really, really hard to catch up to a 30-year average or a 100-year average or any kind of average,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n

Mike Preston, general manager of the Dolores Water Conservancy District<\/a>, operator of McPhee Reservoir, said despite snowpack that is only slightly above 50 percent of the 30-year average, irrigators on the Dolores Project are sitting \u201cright at the edge\u201d of a full allocation.<\/p>\n

Again, he credits the generous 2017 runoff that\u2019s left McPhee storing about 50 percent of the water needed for this year\u2019s growing season.<\/p>\n

If regular storms return through April, Preston said people with water rights on the Dolores Project will get a full allocation for irrigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, we haven\u2019t had a normal amount of storms so far,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

If the stingy season holds on through April, Preston said there\u2019s a chance the full allocation might be reduced to 80 percent.<\/p>\n

The latest inflow forecast for runoff into McPhee for the spring is for 110,000 acre feet \u2013 enough for a full allocation to irrigators.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s possible, even probable, that irrigators will get a full allocation, but it\u2019s not guaranteed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McPhee needs about 1 inch of snow-water equivalent from a normal amount of storms through April to ensure a full allotment of water to irrigators, he said.<\/p>\n

The storm that hit last weekend provided seven-tenths of an inch of snow-water equivalent.<\/p>\n

Like Harris, he warns that the real crunch may come in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother bad year hurts the community\u2019s stability, the rancher\u2019s stability, the district\u2019s stability. Everybody\u2019s affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody needs another shortage year, not the farmers, not the district and not Mother Nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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