Local Business News
Curated news and information worth Sharing
In this section of the site you'll find news and information we come across related to local businesses in Lafayette Colorado as well as local food initiatives along the Front Range and beyond.
A Painful Deadline Nears as Colorado River Reservoirs Run Critically Low
via The New York Times
Posted July 21, 2022 10:58 pm
by Paul Bonneville
It is no secret that there are major water issues out here in Colorado and westward, but an open secret that I learned recently is that anywhere from 75-80% of the water we use here out west is used for agriculture. Matching water shortages due to drought with a desire to develop and grow local and regional food systems does add up to a bright future.
Water managers from the states, irrigation districts, Native tribes and others are discussing proposals for steep 2023 cuts, which must be submitted to the Bureau of Reclamation next month. The reductions are expected to fall most heavily on agriculture, which uses about three-quarters of Colorado water, and on the lower basin states.
There will be a dark future of course, unless we start thinking differently about how we are farming with a goal or reducing wasted water by sticking to old agricultural practices that don't work without massive amounts of water.
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