Farmers line up for rental water

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

The lines started forming on Friday, April 13, and for many of those in line the whole situation turned out to be unlucky. Not only did they sleep and eat on the sidewalks of Wellington for days, but most of them didn't get what they came for.

People were in line at the North Poudre Irrigation Co. office for rental irrigation water offered by Fort Collins. The water was in especially high demand this year because of a low water appropriation from NPIC. (See related story on this page.)

Wellington-area farmers--or people they hired to stand in line--had to wait until Tuesday, April 17, to try to snap up some of the surplus water from Fort Collins. The city is a principal shareholder in NPIC, and when it doesn't need all of its water it typically rents some back to farmers.

This year's allocation of rental water was 8,400 acre-feet, and it went for $30 per acre-foot. However, it didn't last long. Within minutes of the NPIC doors opening at 7 a.m., the water was gone. Of some 100 people waiting in line, only 12 parties got water

Dennis Bode, water resources manager for Fort Collins, said about half of the lucky renters were from larger operations in the area. Some were buying for more than one farm, he noted.

This was the second year that the first-come, first-served policy was in effect for the rental water. Bode said in years past, the available water was prorated among those who requested it. However, he said, "there were a lot of excess requests" to compensate for the likelihood of receiving a prorated amount. With the new system, farmers must pay up front, a move to ensure they request only what they need.

Bode said he plans to solicit feedback from NPIC farmers on what they would see as a more equitable rental system.