Read the series' second part here and third part here.
If you look at a , you鈥檒l find a bumpy blue line labeled 鈥淪outh Fork Republican River.鈥� But, for of the year, this channel contains to.
鈥淪o, the thing is, if we were to go upstream four or five miles, there's flow,鈥� Deb Daniel said while driving along a dusty road, adjacent to the riverbed in what used to be known as Bonny Lake State Park. She points to a stretch of riverbed covered with. 鈥淭here's so much trees grown up in that area, and it's so filled in with silt, that (the South Fork) completely disappears.鈥�
The Republican River basin sustained Daniel鈥檚 family鈥檚 farm when she was growing up. In 2017, therelying most on this river鈥檚 basin brought 鈥� just under a third of
鈥淭here is such joy when I see water flowing,鈥� Daniel said. For the last 20 years, she鈥檚 watched over the river as its conservation district manager. 鈥淎nd on the North Fork, it flows year-round.鈥�
罢丑补迟鈥檚 . These two forks (and the in central Yuma County) are tributaries that start in different parts of northeast Colorado and to feed the main body of the river.
Back down on the South Fork, Daniel keeps following the road, passing a dilapidated welcome center, a long-abandoned camping area and unused shooting range before eventually stopping on a bridge overlooking the Bonny Dam and
鈥淚t was so haunting that last year that we had water here,鈥� she said. The state to of an deal with Kansas and Nebraska.
鈥淭his was a drop spot for a resting place for waterfowl as they were migrating back and forth,鈥� Daniel said, looking mournfully over the quiet, empty reservoir. 鈥淓agle(s) and all of the waterfowl that would be here, cranes and geese and ducks, and now it's all gone. Yeah, it's really depressing.鈥�
Water still flows. But the North Fork is going down.
鈥淲e cannot let (the North Fork) completely dry up like this,鈥� Daniel said, as she drove along the South Fork.
'A losing battle'
With North Fork flows decreasing and the South Fork and Arikaree barely running, the ecosystem suffers, and people who farm these plains stand to lose their livelihoods.
Some, like Joyce Kettelson, are already starting to feel the impacts. She runs Doc鈥檚 Bed and Breakfast in Wray, Yuma County鈥檚 second-largest population center.
Kettelson raised pumpkins here with her husband, Phil, for almost three decades.
Five years ago, he suddenly died. Kettleson tried to maintain the family farm with her son, but said she 鈥渏ust could not figure out how to pay the taxes, pay the water costs, pay the insurance and make it all work out. It just doesn't support that and a livelihood for my son and I.鈥�
All but a third of their land was sold to much larger farming operations in 2021. She leaves the work and the income from the remaining portion of land to her son and his family, sustaining herself on savings and the B&B鈥檚 revenue. They also sealed an irrigation well on their land as the cost to use it rose and its water level plummeted.
The Republican River鈥檚 water levels drop partially because water in the ground surrounding it and beneath it is being used up, And, in turn, part of the reason that groundwater isn鈥檛 as replenished is because of the river鈥檚 limited water.
It鈥檚 a dynamic Kettelson has long been aware of, weighing the water longevity for the community against her family's economic security.
鈥淵ou base it on your family's economic security because we want to continue to stay here and do what we can do,鈥� she said at first, but after thinking about the dropping water level in her irrigation well, she added, 鈥淚 don't know that it ended up really being a choice, it was just like the only way. (Shutting off the irrigation well) really was the only way.鈥�
The hard part? She鈥檚 seen this unfold before. She and her husband grew up watching .
鈥淢y parents, at one time, their house (drinking water) well went dry. They did not have water in their house,鈥� Kettelson said. 鈥淚t was really scary.鈥�
鈥淔ighting a losing battle鈥� down there influenced the Kettelsons鈥� decision to grow pumpkins in Yuma County. They need compared to more popular crops out here, like
鈥淲ater is just getting less and less,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he wells are not as capable as they were 28 years ago.鈥�
Many more farmers will have to seal off their wells like Kettelson has 鈥� not just because of the physical lack of water. Colorado by 2022 to help maintain flows.
鈥淚 don't think it's a great solution, but at this point, it seems like it's the only solution,鈥� Kettelson said.
Running out of options
Most of the irrigation shuttering has to happen near the South Fork in Yuma and Kit Carson counties. Despite the river conservation district and federal government who participate, of the 10,000-acre goal has been met as of Jan. 6, 2022.
鈥淚 wouldn't call it resistant,鈥� said Nate Midcap, manager of the Frenchman, Sandhills, Marks Butte and Central Yuma Groundwater Management Districts, which are separate from the river conservation district. 鈥淚 think (farmers) know what needs to be done. And the state engineer certainly has a history of proving that he's not afraid to turn off wells to make compact compliance.鈥�
A booming market for irrigated crops, like and , over the last two years made it hard to convince farmers to exchange those profits for the irrigation-shutoff payments.
Last month, the river conservation district board voted to yearly water use fees so that they could also who stop irrigating around the South Fork. Several board members of the groundwater districts Midcap manages also sit on the river district board and helped make that decision.
So now, someone farming 100 acres would have to pay $45,000 to irrigate for 15 years instead of the $21,750 they paid before the fee increase. If that farmer鈥檚 land is within a mile of the South Fork and they enter the program to totally retire the land for 15 years, they would now get paid more than $67,000 instead of $52,875.
鈥�They've known that they've needed to retire them for eight to 10 years,鈥� Midcap said. 鈥淏ut the actual process of getting the fee increased has taken at least nine months.鈥�
Part of the reason for the hold-up, several local officials told KUNC, is that the conservation board members are often farmers and ranchers themselves. So they struggle to make decisions that could hurt them and their neighbors financially.
鈥淧eople don't like to spend money, right?鈥� Midcap said. 鈥淭hey want to do their business as cheap as possible for as long as possible... And there's human nature to just wait to the last minute until you absolutely have to do something. And we're kind of at that point.鈥�
Midcap later made a point to say that he has hope because the county can sustain itself on the remaining groundwater for at least another century.
鈥淏ut they have to work through the bigger issues of the basin,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I think that that's doable.鈥�
And he understands his optimism could be difficult for folks to hear as they lose farmland due to dried-up wells and hugely increased water costs.
鈥淭hey put a well down and in, say, 1965, and here we are 40, 50, 60 years later, and (the water level) is going to be half,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it's a remarkable feat to still have water available after 60 years in the same hole. And to hope you鈥檒l have it for another 60.鈥�
Midcap is confident that enough irrigated acres will be shut down to keep the state in compliance with the 2024 deadline. But there鈥檚 a second deadline: another 15,000 acres must shut down by 2029. He's less confident about that.
鈥淏ut we're between a rock and a sword. There is no other option,鈥� said Deb Daniel, Republican River Water Conservation District manager. 鈥淚f we don't get this done, the state of Kansas could virtually force our state engineer to shut off irrigated ag in northeast Colorado, and we can't let that happen.鈥�
Interest in irrigation-shutoff programs has already sharply increased since the district increased the payments it offers, she added.
鈥淚'm talking to people about 40 different irrigation wells and everybody's at a different stage in that,鈥� Daniel said. 鈥淏ut going from virtually none to, within three months, that many is extremely encouraging.鈥�
The actions needed to fulfill the compact, protect the river and keep the agricultural economic backbone of these communities strong can intersect, she said, but often end up at odds. There are a lot of hard decisions to be made.
鈥淏ut at the same time, I have the blood of these producers running through my veins because you have to be proactive, you've got to have a positive attitude or you're not going to survive,鈥� she said, her fist solemnly over her heart.
She's inspired by the producers changing their crops to ones that use less water, and by those finding ways to farm without irrigation at all. She鈥檚 helping the conservation district, county government and Colorado Parks And Wildlife working on a $40 million plan to get water flowing through the South Fork around Bonny Reservoir again.
But, Daniel admits, the river will likely never return to its former glory. At this point, it's all just mitigating losses.
On Jan. 13, part two of this series will explore the history of the river and the interstate compact governing it. Part three will look at efforts to solve these issues by local producers and officials.
This story was produced as part of the initiative using community engagement to inform and strengthen local, regional and national journalism. America Amplified is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
