{"id":34905,"date":"2023-04-03T17:48:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T23:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/food-and-water-a-future-that-is-one-and-the-same\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:21:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:21:27","slug":"food-and-water-a-future-that-is-one-and-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/food-and-water-a-future-that-is-one-and-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"Food and water: A future that is one and the same"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Roughly
Roughly 300 attendees filled the event center Friday at the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio. A panel on lower and upper basin agriculture and water featured, from left, Bart Fisher, Simon Martinez, Paul Bruchez and Robert Sakata. (Reuben Schafir\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

IGNACIO \u2013 It is no secret that when it comes to water conservation, farmers feel as if they have a target on their back.<\/p>\n

Although the nation\u2019s consumers rely on the fruits of the agricultural industry\u2019s labor, the perception is fickle, farmers say, because their water consumption is on a scale measured in acre-feet, not gallons. As the water supply from the Colorado River dwindles, the future of farming demands increasing attention.<\/p>\n

The Southwestern Water Conservation District held its 39th annual seminar Friday in Ignacio to address the topic of \u201cseeking common ground in crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 300 people were in attendance, including both chairmen of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian tribes, ranchers, farmers and officials from agencies involved in water conservation at the federal level all the way down to local districts. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was a surprise guest. The congresswoman for Colorado\u2019s 3rd District informed organizers just a day before that she would be in attendance and spoke for roughly 10 minutes before the lunch hour.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was a surprise guest at the Southwestern Water Conservation District\u2019s annual meeting Friday in Ignacio. She spoke for about 10 minutes before the lunch break. She said her top three priorities were \u201cwater, water, water.\u201d (Reuben Schafir\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The event\u2019s schedule included panels on reusing treated wastewater, seeking common ground in the distribution of the river\u2019s resources, and the connection been food and water for agricultural producers on the Western Slope, Front Range, and the upper and lower Colorado River Basin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are supposed to talk about the future of farming, and really that\u2019s the future of water,\u201d said Ken Curtis, the general manager of the Dolores Water Conservancy District and moderator of the panel on food and water.<\/p>\n

About 80% of the Colorado River\u2019s<\/a> water supply will be put to use in agriculture.<\/p>\n

From the Front Range farmers, like panelist Robert Sakata, the owner of a 2,400-acre farm nestled in the expanding urban boundaries of Brighton, to lower basin users such as panelist Bart Fisher, a farmer and former chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, the impacts of the historic drought are top of mind. The need to reduce water use has affected what they grow as well as the quantity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to do all strictly vegetables,\u201d Sakata said. \u201cBecause of some of these changes, we\u2019ve moved away from vegetables now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some cases, farmers have resorted to not growing at all.<\/p>\n

\"Robert
Robert Sakata, right, speaks as part of a panel on the connection between water and agriculture at the Southwestern Water Conservation District\u2019s annual water seminar Friday at the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio. (Reuben Schafir\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cBuy-and-dry\u201d programs have become a tense topic of conversation among farmers. The concept is to reduce water consumption by paying farmers annually for water to which they have a right but do not use. Although this can be done in any number of ways, the program\u2019s epithet refers to the common method of fallowing \u2013 or intentionally not cultivating \u2013 land. Despite protections that ensure unused water rights will not be forfeited, as is historically the case, farmers are skeptical.<\/p>\n

From a financial perspective, the incentive is small. The upper basin program offers only $150 to farmers per acre-foot of water saved (an acre-foot is the amount needed to submerge an acre of land in 1 foot of water), while farmers can typically harness<\/a> far more in profits from that water if they use it for irrigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you diminish agriculture significantly by fallowing, you diminish the economic engine of the community that supports agriculture,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n

But fallowing is not the only option for farmers seeking to profit from their water conservation. Efficiency amounts to conservation, Sakata noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe reached out, through the state of Colorado and me directly, talking to the Ute Mountain Tribe and said, \u2018Are you interested this year?\u2019\u201d said Chuck Cullom, executive director of the Upper Colorado River Commission, referring to the reduction incentive program. \u201cChairman Heart and his folks said, \u2018No, we want to farm. We\u2019ve been dry and at 90% reduction in our supply, there\u2019s no amount of money in the game. It\u2019s important to our community, it\u2019s important to food security.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon Martinez, the general manager of Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch, said he is more interested in testing out water-efficient crops.<\/p>\n

This year, the farm will receive 100% of its allotted water. But Martinez is planning for a drier future.<\/p>\n

Like many farmers looking to save water, the Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch is experimenting with Kernza. The wheatgrass variant can significantly reduce water consumption<\/a> compared to a crop such as alfalfa.<\/p>\n

\"Simon
Simon Martinez, general manager of the Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch, spoke on a panel discussing the connection between agriculture and water. Martinez said the farm would begin to experiment with Kernza, a water-saving crop, this spring. (Reuben Schafir\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re going to do that,\u201d Martinez said. \u201c(Kernza) uses less water, might be something we can utilize in cattle operations for feed purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tribe has roughly 650 head of cattle.<\/p>\n

Martinez hopes to test the new grain as potential cattle feed and intends on sowing 46 acres with the seed, likely this spring. Although the concept is experimental \u2013 Martinez said the crop has not been grown in the region and its exact efficacy as a cattle feed is unclear \u2013 success could mean a significant water savings for the farm.<\/p>\n

In addition to reducing the amount of water needed to irrigate, which Martinez estimated could near 50% compared to alfalfa, grazing the farm\u2019s herd on Kernza would increase profits by enabling the farm to sell more of the alfalfa that it does produce.<\/p>\n

The perennial grain has grown in popularity as its viability as an alternative crop becomes increasingly intriguing to farmers. The outdoor brand Patagonia<\/a> adopted it into the company\u2019s line of sustainable foods and now produces pasta and beer with the grain.<\/p>\n

Martinez said he is unsure of how the experiment will go. But to test out the grain on 46 acres of the 7,700-acre farm is a small sacrifice.<\/p>\n

With future weather predictions becoming increasingly unpredictable, farmers are endorsing an array of solutions. Although this year\u2019s ample snowfall does little to reverse the long-term impacts of the historic drought, water aficionados in the Four Corners are nonetheless grateful for the supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur prayers got answered this past year,\u201d Chairman Heart said to applause. \u201cIt\u2019s really good to see that our mountains are looking the way they\u2019re supposed to look \u2013 all white during the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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