Rio Blanco water initiative
Farmers and ranchers in Rio Blanco County are starting off the new year optimistic about their involvement in the White River Integrated Water Initiative, which is aimed at assessing community needs from all water users in order to identify actions that promote a healthy river and ensure a vibrant agricultural community. Goals of the project also include maintaining healthy fisheries, protecting water rights—both quantity and quality—and respecting local customs, cultures and property rights.
The planning process was initiated by the board of the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts to help meet Colorado’s Water Plan, which sets a goal that 80% of all watersheds will have a completed stream management plan by 2030. The White River initiative will reflect the priorities of local residents and is one of almost 25 others in Colorado that are creating stream and integrated water management plans.
“It is far better for us to initiate grassroots involvement and input into a water plan than to have a plan or regulations imposed upon us by an entity that is not familiar with our community,” said Callie Hendrickson, the districts’ executive director. “Landowners who irrigate pastures or crops are a key piece of this initiative.”
Over the last two years, the White River initiative successfully completed Phase I to capture initial community input and form a 16-person planning advisory committee that represents agriculture, environmental, recreation, municipal and industry concerns. Goals emerging from the Phase I community assessment work include:
• Protect and preserve existing water rights and other beneficial water uses;
• Protect and enhance water quantity and quality through promoting best management practices of forests, riparian areas, rangeland and stream flows;
• Identify opportunities for creation or improvement of infrastructure to support efficient consumptive and non-consumptive uses; and
• Support development/maintenance of long-term water storage solutions.
The committee has submitted a grant to the Colorado Water Conservation Board to fund Phase II of the project, which will include assessments of agricultural irrigation diversion structures and riverside (riparian) habitat, as well as set future priorities for the initiative.
“This is a community where agriculture is very important, so I am glad to see that we have a diverse cross-section of irrigators represented on the planning advisory committee,” said Stu Massey, a Rangely rancher and member of the White River initiative Planning Advisory Committee. “Farmers and ranchers want healthy rivers and more efficient diversion structures.”
