by Payton Liming | Jan 23, 2023 | Assessment Fees, Board Meetings, Conservation in the News, Conservation Programs, Latest News, Uncategorized
The county assessors and treasurers are working on the 2023 tax rolls for their counties. The tax roll includes an assessment on irrigated acres from the Republican River Water Conservation District (RRWCD).
The RRWCD assessments fund the district’s ongoing Compact Compliance efforts. In the past, the assessment was $14.50 per irrigated acre. Acres irrigated in the 2022 calendar year will be assessed $30 per acre on the upcoming tax roll.
In 2016, the Republican River Compact Administration (RRCA), consisting of the State Engineers from Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado, approved a Resolution which allowed Colorado 100 percent credit for the water delivered by the Compact Compliance Pipeline.
In exchange for the 100 percent credit, Colorado agreed to retire 25,000 irrigated acres in the South Fork Focus Zone (SFFZ), located in parts of Kit Carson and Yuma counties, by the end of 2029. Colorado must have 10,000 irrigated acres permanently retired in this area by the end of 2024 and the remaining 15,000 acres retired from irrigation by December 31, 2029.
Colorado State Engineer, Kevin Rein, previously stated that if Colorado does not retire the acres by the deadlines stipulated in the 2016 RRCA Resolution, he will shut down all large capacity wells in the Republican River Basin. This includes all irrigation, municipal and large commercial wells.
Throughout 2021, the RRWCD held over 30 public meetings all over the basin to discuss increasing the water use fee to offset the additional expense of retiring acres in the South Fork Focus Zone.
During the November 2021 quarterly Board meeting the RRWCD held a public hearing on increasing the RRWCD Water Use Fee Assessment from $14.50 per irrigated acre to $30 per irrigated acre. The board voted unanimously to approve increasing the annual fee with the stipulation the fee would “sunset” (return to $14.50) at the end of 2029. The board deemed it crucial to have a dependable source of funding in place to meet the retirement of acres required to meet the 2024 and 2029 deadlines.
Landowners who own irrigated land throughout the basin are eligible to enter conservation program contracts. Every week producers in the basin meet with the RRWCD staff to discuss the voluntary, permanent retirement of irrigated acres in the basin for new and current conservation programs. Working with well owners and local Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices, the RRWCD has retired 6,278 irrigated acres in the SFFZ.
For more information contact the RRWCD district office, 970-332-3552 or call Deb Daniel, RRWCD General Manager, at 970-630-3525.
by Payton Liming | May 15, 2023 | Board Meetings, Conservation in the News, Conservation Programs, CREP, EQIP, Latest News, Legislation, SFFZ, SFRRC
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program Improvement Act sponsored by Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO.) and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS)
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), part of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), leverages federal and non-federal funds to target specific state, regional, or nationally significant conservation concerns. Traditionally, it has provided farmers and ranchers with payments to remove land from production in order to address specific conservation concerns. Each CREP is unique, and in drought-prone regions in Colorado, Kansas, and across the West and the Great Plains, CREP is used primarily to voluntarily reduce water consumption on farmland.
However, the CREP program has not always worked as intended, and producers have sought more flexibility to achieve CREP goals while allowing for alternative water conservation practices and fairer compensation for enrollment in the program. The 2018 Farm Bill included a provision to allow dryland farming on retired irrigated acres in CREP. Unfortunately, USDA still has not implemented this provision, and payments on these acres are insufficient to encourage participation in key regions where water conservation is a top concern.
For example, Colorado’s Republican River CREP is a partnership between USDA, the Republican River Water Conservancy District, and the State of Colorado to reduce irrigation water use of the Ogallala Aquifer, a critical water source for the Great Plains, and to help Colorado satisfy its commitments under the Republican River Compact, a water allocation agreement between Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska that has been in place since 1943. In recent years, the Republican River CREP has faced challenges enrolling enough producers in the program to meet CREP’s objectives. Producers are hesitant to permanently retire their water rights and take their land out of production as a result of lower payment rates in certain areas of the Republican River Water Conservation District.
Other CREPs have faced similar challenges with the program’s lack of flexibility. In Southern Colorado, 40 percent of the farmland grows alfalfa, but is ineligible for enrollment into the CREP overseen by the Rio Grande Water Conservation District because a producer must show a historical rotational cropping pattern. This inflexibility hinders the ability of the Rio Grande CREP to achieve their water conservation goals using the program.
Additionally, the CRP program’s $50,000 annual cap on payments to producers often restricts participation by producers with multiple fields in production, further limiting the success of water conservation CREPs.
Specifically, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program Improvement Act would improve the CREP program by:
● Explicitly directing USDA to allow dryland agricultural uses on CREP acreage where appropriate;
● Specifically adding dryland crop production and grazing to the list of appropriate conservation practices for the CREP program;
● Allowing continuous cropping systems, like alfalfa, to be eligible for drought and water conservation CREP agreements;
● Ensuring fairer payments to producers by stipulating that annual payments for drought and water conservation CREP agreements will be equal to the difference between the irrigated acre payment rates and the dryland acre payment rates, as determined by USDA. And ensuring that any drought and water conservation agreement that includes the permanent retirement of a water right receives the full irrigated acre payment rate;
● Making the payment formula retroactive for existing drought and water conservation agreements;
● Letting producers choose their payment allocations under the program, instead of a fixed payment per year for the 10-15 year contract period; and
● Waiving CREP payments from the $50,000 annual payment limitation under the Conservation Reserve Program.
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program Improvement Act will provide the flexibility farmers and ranchers need to conserve water on working lands under CREP, while providing them with fair compensation for retiring their water rights or limiting their water use.
(Text from press release from Sen. Bennet’s office.)
If you would like to view the Act, please click the following link: A BILL To amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to modify the conservation reserve enhancement program.
by Suzanna Baker | May 9, 2023 | Assessment Fees, Board Meetings, Conservation in the News, Conservation Programs, Latest News, Legislation, Meeting Announcements
Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Place: St. John’s Lutheran Church Education Hall located at 405 S. Albany Street, Yuma, CO 80759
The Board will review the minutes of the February 21, 2023, quarterly Board meeting and the minutes of the special Board meeting held on March 22, 2023.
Reports to be given include Board President’s report, General Manager’s report, the district financial report for the first quarter of 2023, an update on the number of acres retired in the South Fork Focus Zone, and a report from the Compact Compliance Pipeline operator, Tracy Travis.
The Board will also receive reports from Board committees and associated organizations. The Board will receive updates from the RRWCD’s water engineer, conservation program specialist, state and federal lobbyists and legal counsel.
The public comment session will be held at 1:00 PM.
The Board will receive reports from the State Engineer’s office and from Republican River Team Lead Commissioner Chris Kucera. Kari Linker, local representative for Senator Hickenlooper, James Thompson, from Senator Bennet’s office and Darlene Carpio, representing Congressman Buck’s office will present reports from their respective offices for the federal legislators.
During Board discussion and action items, Reon McBride will give a financial update regarding the funds held at Wray State Bank. The Board will review, discuss, and vote on a consultation contract with Mike Sullivan, the recently retired Deputy State Engineer. The Board will discuss and vote on how to utilize grant funds available from CWCB. The Board will discuss and vote on a contribution to Water Education Colorado and Colorado Ag in the Classroom. The Board will discuss creating and vote on utilizing RRWCD specific Gmail accounts.
The RRWCD Board of Directors may hold an executive session to receive legal advice on legal questions and litigation concerning water rights; to discuss and determine positions, develop strategies, and instruct negotiators concerning the purchase or lease of water rights; determine positions and instruct negotiators concerning water supply acquisition, receive legal advice on legal questions related to such agreements, contracts and easements, discuss program applications for matters such as the Compact Compliance Pipeline, Bonny Reservoir and personnel matters.
by Suzanna Baker | Apr 22, 2022 | Assessment Fees, Board Meetings, Closed, Conservation in the News, Conservation Programs, CREP, EQIP, Latest News, Legislation, Meeting Announcements, Pipeline Project, SFFZ, SFRRC, Uncategorized
Regarding a Potential for a Future Per Acre-Foot Fee that Could Include 2022 Water Use