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Article: Otero County, Colo., Farmers Look to Sell Extra Irrigation Water.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- March 2, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Mar. 1--LA JUNTA, Colo.--Looking at the true value of irrigation water in these parts, a local group has quantified the reason that water is leaving the lower Arkansas Valley.
In very rough figures, Otero County farmers made an average of maybe $100 per acre off their crops in 1997 after paying the costs of production.
Some of the water they used to grow those crops is now fetching $5,600 per acre when sold to a big city like Aurora.
So it's no mystery why farmers, those owning much of the Rocky Ford Ditch this time, have elected to sell their water. Farmers under the High Line Canal want to do the same and local officials are worried because ...