South Platte well users will get to pump more water this summer

The signing of a three-year water lease with the city of Thornton will allow irrigation wells in the South Platte River basin to pump more water this year.

The deal means Central Colorado Water Conservancy District has been able to increase the quota that 1,000 irrigation wells will be able to deliver to farmers this summer.

The quota for wells in the district’s groundwater management subdistrict has been increased to 35 percent, up from 18 percent after the district’s board agreed to rent 5,000 acre-feet of water annually from the city of Thornton. The water comes from the Water Supply and Storage Co. of Fort Collins and is delivered through the Poudre River and ultimately to the South Platte River east of Greeley.

Thornton owns about 50 percent of Water Supply and Storage, which supplies irrigation water to Larimer and Weld counties. The north Denver suburb bought that water along with several farms in Larimer and northern Weld counties about 20 years ago.

Frank Eckhardt, who farms south of La Salle, said every little bit helps.

“That’s almost 50 percent more than we were going to pump, so it will help a lot. We’ll be able to do a little more pumping than we thought,” Eckhardt said.

For more details, see Thursday's Tribune.