A Colorado water district spanning nine southeastern counties believes Aurora Water is violating a 2003 agreement not to purchase any more Arkansas Valley basin water. 

Aurora Water is spending $80 million on a ranch of about 5,000 acres near Rocky Ford and its associated water rights. An Aurora presentation showed it estimates it is paying about $9,600 per acre-foot of water. The purchase could yield 18,000 to 22,500 acre-feet every 10 years, Aurora city documentation states. An acre-foot of water can serve about four families for a year in Colorado Springs. 

Aurora Water expects to use the water three out of every 10 years to help support its growth and allow the water to irrigate crops during the remaining seven years. Aurora residents would not see additional rate increases outside of those already planned, said Alex Davis, an assistant general manager for the utility who works on water supply and demand.

“Providing the drinking water for the future of Aurora is really important.” she said. “Water supplies are getting more and more difficult to ensure for the future.” 

Aurora and Colorado Springs Utilities have both looked to the Arkansas Valley for water to support growth in recent years as farmers have faced dry conditions. 

In this case, Aurora is facing opposition to its purchase from water districts in the valley and Colorado Springs Utilities. 

Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District President Bill Long said the purchase breaks an agreement Aurora Water signed with the district. Residents in the district have paid property taxes to support bringing water from the Western Slope to the Arkansas Basin.  

“They have purchased water when they agreed not to,” he said.

Colorado Springs Utilities said in an official statement they agree with the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District’s interpretation that the purchase is a violation of the 2003 agreement. 

“As signatory to the Arkansas River Basin Preservation Principles, we oppose permanent out-of-basin transfers from an already water-short basin,” the statement said. 

The 2003 agreement was reached after Aurora made large purchases of water in Crowley and Otero counties, in a practice known as “buy and dry,” where the water leaves the land forever. Under its agreement with Southeastern, Aurora agreed to only lease water from farmers and a series of other conditions. 

Davis, on behalf of Aurora, disagrees with Southeastern’s interpretation. She said Aurora agreed not to buy water and permanently move it out of the Arkansas Basin and that Aurora does not plan to permanently move the water.

“Aurora has committed to keeping that land in production.”

Aurora also tried to lease water from farmers but found the timing of such arrangements tough. The utility can only move water out of the basin when its reservoirs are 60% full or less and naturally those are more dry times. The water provider found farmers were not interested in leasing at those times because prices were higher for crops. 

The purchase gives Aurora more control and certainty, she said. 

Long argues the community will see economic losses in the years when the water is not available and the farmland is fallowed. While the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District could take Aurora Water to court over the purchase, that’s not the district’s goal. 

“I personally told (Aurora Water General Manager) Marshall Brown we were willing to sit down and have a conversation about these issues,” he said. 

Davis said Aurora would be open to an agreement that formalize its commitment not to permanently move the water out of the basin and otherwise working through issues with the district and others that oppose the deal, such as the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District. 

The Lower Arkansas Valley district also has an agreement with Aurora Water that required the utility to offer to lease water to others before leasing it to themselves, said Jack Goble, the general manager of the district. He would like to see some financial mitigation for the community. 

As part of a recent deal to buy water along Arkansas Valley, Colorado Springs Utilities agreed to direct annual payments to Bent County of $45 per acre of water to help offset the losses, Long said. 

Bent County producers planned to use the funds from the purchase to buy center-pivot irrigation systems and sell Colorado Springs Utilities water that will be saved as part of the conversion from flood irrigation, The Gazette reported at the time. As part of the conversion, irrigators will no longer water the corners of their fields because center pivots rotate in a circle. The corners represent about 22% of the fields.

“The deal that Colorado Springs utilities just made with Bent County is far superior,” Long said. 

In general, Goble said he would prefer the cities lease water rather than buy it to provide economic support to the Arkansas Valley famers. 

It’s “way better for the Lower Valley if they are selling them the milk, rather than selling them the cow,” he said. 

This story has been updated to correct Jack Goble’s name.