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Water worries in San Luis Valley come to surface |
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Tuesday, January 17, 2012 07:08 |
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Photo by Bruce Finley, The Denver Post
By BRUCE FINLEY, THE DENVER POST
SAN PABLO — Water here is so scarce that farmers habitually gaze up at the mountains surrounding their valley — where overpumping from aquifers may force 80,000 irrigated acres out of production.
As Rose Medina traversed her ancestral lands last week, scanning the Sangre de Cristos for the promise of a strong spring runoff, she saw barely a dusting of snow.
"Looks like we'll need more," Medina said.
Big spring snow could send water coursing down Culebra Creek and into her "lindero" boundaries — headgates controlled by an elected "mayordomo" steward — allowing growth of hay for her 16 cows and quenching her apple, plum and cherry trees. The ancient Moorish water-sharing methods adapted 400 years ago in southern Colorado ensure that, even in dry years, small family farmers survive.
But survival is far from ensured across the broader San Luis Valley, where leaders in an area that's already among the poorest in the state are bracing for a major economic hit.
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