Agricultural producers, scientists and policymakers from Colorado and Kansas gathered near the Ogallala Aquifer in Burlington on Wednesday to air their concerns and share ideas for how to survive continued drought. But it was hard to escape the Republican River Basin-shaped elephant in the room. 

The group convened at the behest of U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet, Colorado’s Democratic chair of the conservation, climate, forestry, and natural resources committee, and Roger Marshall, of Kansas, the ranking Republican member of the committee. 

The location was poignant because it’s in a region where farmers over recent years have had to shut down their wells and either switch to dryland farming or grazing or stop all agricultural activity entirely due to shrinking water supplies.

The water shortages continue to reverberate as Colorado struggles to figure out how to shut down wells irrigating 25,000 acres of land in the basin by 2029, 10,000 acres of which are to be dried by the end of this year. That could force more Kit Carson County producers out of the only livelihood they know. So while the hearing was civil, at times the tone wasn’t always easy to decipher as both states listed the ways climate change, drought and imperfect agriculture policies under the Biden administration continue to push them into an increasingly dire situation. 

Climatologists from both states recalled climate-warming trends in recent years that have destroyed farmers’ profit margins and put them in the difficult situation of deciding whether or not to cull herds due to forage shortages. 

Christopher Redmond, assistant meteorologist at Kansas State University’s Weather Data Library, said current weather models show another La Niña is brewing, meaning Colorado and Kansas farmers can expect longer dry periods with heavier but less-penetrating rainfall, “which puts higher demands on the Ogallala Aquifer.” 

This isn’t good news, as Constance Owen, director of the Kansas Water Office, said extended drought in Kansas “has contributed to agricultural devastation” including the deaths of thousands of cattle, billions of dollars in drought-related crop losses and increasing severity of wildfires that have burned over 165,000 acres of land in central Kansas. 

Robert Sakata, who farms about 2,500 irrigated acres in Adams and Weld counties, attributed Colorado’s loss of irrigated farmland to factors including rising temperatures, increased municipal and industrial demand from population growth and efforts across the state to manage Colorado’s groundwater resources, “with prime examples of this (being) the Republican River and the Rio Grande Basin.” 

“In Colorado, as you know, the state owns the water,” he said. “It allocates that water for beneficial use based on the seniority of water rights in a system called prior appropriations. Our state has worked very hard to do this fairly, to protect senior water rights holders and to be in compliance with compact agreements with our neighboring states. This has been and will continue to be challenging, expensive and painful for agriculture as farm and ranch families are battling on the front lines of this water scarcity.” 

Owen said the increased need for water in Kansas worsens the severe depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer. 

It seemed easier for some of the stakeholders to look backward rather than forward by focusing on ways policies created by the federal government haven’t benefited agriculture. 

Keeping the conversation focused on the Republican River compact, Don Brown, director of the Republican River Basin Water Conservation District, explained that the surest method of compliance with Kansas’ water settlement requirements is retiring irrigated acres on farms in northeastern Colorado. 

But “typically, those retirement programs require a mix of USDA and district funds,” and programs related to these “have been unreliable due to lack of funding,” Brown said.  

Other concerns focused on the allocation of a limited supply of water in agricultural settings to things like wildlife conservation; issues around land valuation; the toll of drought and other hardships have taken on farmers’ and ranchers’ mental health; and lack of clarity among farmers around policy issues like one stating they must continue watering cover crops even after they’ve deemed a crop is no longer viable. 

On the upside, those gathered seemed genuinely happy the senators from Colorado and Kansas had come to the Eastern Plains to meet with them in person and encouraged them to keep doing it.  

“There are many ways to reach a destination, and there are no straight lines in nature,” said Patrick Janssen, president of the Water Protection Agency of Central Kansas. “I would encourage a lot more producer-level input. You know, focus groups, things like this. We don’t necessarily need to drag gentlemen such as yourselves into it, but you guys need to hear from those of us on the ground who are trying to implement these projects.”