Perhaps it’s time for us all to get a little smarter.
(Dave Marston | Writers on the Range) Since 1917, five generations have lived along the Animas Unified Ditch outside of Durango, Colorado.
Imagine, for example, people in the West waking up one morning to find that many of their most treasured wetlands have dried up and disappeared. This is no fiction, at a time when the true value of water is being questioned.
Most wetlands in the arid West exist because of the “inefficiencies” of unlined irrigation canals and flood irrigation, but when well-meaning city folk insist that irrigation companies use water more efficiently by running pipes through ditches, the result may be more water lost than “saved” for rivers.
One of the little-known facts about the West is that many of our wetlands are the result of irrigated agriculture. For example, irrigation companies in northern Colorado irrigate about 24,000 acres of land thanks to 146 miles of ditches.
The area managed by the irrigation company also contains about 1,300 acres of wetlands, most of which are under leaky ditches, and it’s no coincidence that a Colorado State University study found this relationship by using heavy isotopes to plot water levels in groundwater wells, ditches, and precipitation. This is a problem across the West.
We all know that climate change is making the weather hotter and drier, reducing the amount of water in the Colorado River that 40 million people in the West depend on. In Wyoming’s Laramie Basin, 67 percent of the wetlands are used for agriculture. In North Park, Colorado, nearly 75 percent of the wetlands are a by-product of irrigated agriculture.
Decades ago, Aldo Leopold wrote, “There are two psychological dangers in not owning a farm: one, thinking that heat comes from the furnace; the other, thinking that breakfast can be obtained at the grocery store.”
Can I add a third thing? We don’t know much about the water we depend on.
Farmers and ranchers produce two “goods”: private goods and public goods. They are compensated for producing food. They are not compensated for ecosystem services, which are public goods, even though they include things like wetlands, biodiversity, and carbon-sequestering plants.
But knowing that 79 percent of the Colorado River’s water is used for rural agriculture, their urban neighbors are urging their rural counterparts to conserve water, or better yet, sell it.
Meanwhile, environmental groups want to reduce water use for rural agriculture and keep more water in the river to provide fish farming and recreational opportunities.
Clearly, there are too many demands on the West’s dwindling water supplies: drinking water, agriculture water, river health. Where do wetlands fit in?
Wetlands cover 1 percent of the West’s land area, yet half of all endangered species depend on them. Wetlands function similarly to human kidneys: they filter impurities from human land use, making the environment healthier.
Maybe it’s time for all of us to get a little smarter. Many of these wetlands are man-made – that is, created by farmers and ranchers – not “natural”. Many will disappear in the name of water conservation. Should we conserve water and be more efficient at all costs?
Will we prioritize water for urban uses, including urban sprawl? Or will we help keep more water in our rivers to create a healthier environment? Will water for food production be considered a necessity? Will green grass be prioritized over healthy rivers and wetlands?
With more informed conversations about our region, conversations between rural and urban neighbors, perhaps we can pursue the triple bottom line: water for food production, water for urban uses, and of course, water for the rivers, streams and wetlands of our region.
We all want that, so let’s think about how we can make it happen.
(Photo courtesy of Writers on the Range) Richard Knight
Rick Knight He is a contributor to Writers on the Range. Writer Son The Rangeis an independent, nonprofit organization that seeks to foster vibrant dialogue about the West, working at the intersection of land use and land health in the American West.
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