As Colorado River negotiations drag on and drought conditions persist, states and cities are asking agricultural users to conserve water.
In Wyoming, it may prove hard to get ranchers to opt in.
Cattle rancher Freddie Botur said he doesn’t want the federal government to step in and make mandatory water cuts, but he’s also not a fan of the voluntary plan the state is pushing.
“It seems like to just incentivize people to shut their water off entirely is maybe not the best interest for Wyoming,” Botur, one of many ranchers wearing dusty jeans and work boots, said at a June 17 meeting in Pinedale held by the state engineer’s office.
Botur said more dollars should go toward making water systems more efficient with improvements like installing sprinklers or piping canals. That way, he said, lands could remain productive and businesses could still profit.
There’s no monetary incentive attached to Wyoming’s voluntary water conservation pilot program, which is slated to officially open for applications early next year. Utah has a similar program, but is using state money to incentivize people.
Chris Brown, Wyoming senior assistant attorney general, told attendees at the June 17 meeting that he’s hopeful the state will soon have federal funding. He said he only expects a “handful” of water users to opt in to the program and take acres out of production without being paid.
Brown said the Upper Colorado River Commission, which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, could receive millions of dollars from the federal government. If that happens, he said the commission would know by this fall.
“Then we can put something in place that's voluntary that doesn't result in mandatory reductions,” Brown said.
The lower basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada have pushed for mandatory water cuts in dry years for all states in the basin. Wyoming and other upper basin states are trying to avoid that, while proving they’re contributing to conserving water.
This comes as the seven states in the Colorado River basin struggle to agree on a plan to share water and the federal government takes the reins.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
