COLORADO — San Luis Valley farmers are challenging a proposed groundwater management plan that would increase fees for pumping beyond surface-water rights from $150 to $500 per acre-foot.

The San Luis Valley aquifer reached a record low in August. State Engineer Kevin Rein warned that he will be put in the position of curtailing groundwater diversions if Groundwater Subdistrict No. 1’s sustainability goals are not met by 2031.

The groundwater plan was the subject of a weeks-long Colorado water court trial this summer. Judge Michael Gonzales indicated the case is likely to be appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court regardless of the outcome.

Cleave Simpson, Colorado state senator and general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, expressed concern about local water resources. "It’s really draconian," Simpson said in an interview in March. He added that the lack of natural replenishment has undermined conservation efforts. "Everything we’ve tried to do is failing, just because we don’t have snowpack, we don’t have inflow," Simpson said.

Simpson also voiced anxiety about the social impact of strict water limits. "I don’t know how my community is going to survive," he said. Snowmelt rates across the Rio Grande headwaters decreased by 20 percent per decade from 1984 to 2017, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Water storage in the unconfined aquifer has lost an estimated 1.3 million acre-feet of water since 1976.

Willie Myers, a fourth-generation farmer, characterized the fee hikes as an existential threat to independent agriculture. "They’re effectively going to use the fee as the way to shut down operations," Myers said. He argued that alternative methods, such as caps on pumping volume, would be more equitable.

"They can just cap the amount of water you’re able to pump," Myers said. Myers described the redistribution of water access as ideological overreach. "The constant comment I have heard is dividing up my water rights, that’s socialism," he said.

Why It Matters

The 2031 sustainability deadline was set by a Colorado Supreme Court-approved plan for water management in 2011. This framework is now being tested in state water court as part of the current groundwater management dispute. In 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court approved the Plan of Water Management for the Special Improvement District No. 1 of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, which aimed to regulate groundwater use to achieve sustainable aquifer levels.

San Luis Valley groundwater provides roughly 800,000 acre-feet of irrigation water annually. Groundwater pumping in the region fell by about one-third over the past decade. Cleave Simpson estimates the Rio Grande Water Conservation District has spent roughly $100 million over 14 years trying to reduce groundwater pumping. The new program could begin as early as 2026 if the fees survive a court challenge, according to a news article from Water Education Colorado.

Timeline

1976: Water storage in the unconfined aquifer begins its decline, losing an estimated 1.3 million acre-feet since then. 1984-2017: Snowmelt rates across the Rio Grande headwaters decrease by 20 percent per decade. 2011: Colorado Supreme Court approves a plan for water management setting a 2031 sustainability deadline. 2015: Colorado Supreme Court approves the Plan of Water Management for the Special Improvement District No. 1 of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District.

August 2026: The San Luis Valley aquifer reaches a record low. Summer 2026: The groundwater plan is the subject of a weeks-long Colorado water court trial. 2031: Deadline for Groundwater Subdistrict No. 1 to meet sustainability goals or face curtailed diversions.

What's New

Willie Myers, a fourth-generation San Luis Valley farmer, has publicly criticized the proposed groundwater fee increases as an unfair burden on farmers who rely solely on groundwater, and has advocated for a cap on pumping similar to what is used in Subdistrict 5, according to reports. Cleave Simpson, a fourth-generation farmer and general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, has served as a Colorado state senator since 2017, representing Alamosa County and advocating for agricultural interests in the San Luis Valley.

The 2011 Colorado Supreme Court-approved plan for water management in the San Luis Valley established a 2031 deadline for achieving aquifer sustainability, which is now being tested in state water court as part of the current groundwater management dispute. Cleave Simpson, general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District and a state senator, has previously served on the Colorado Water Conservation Board and has been a key figure in shaping water policy in the San Luis Valley for over two decades.

In 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court approved the Plan of Water Management for the Special Improvement District No. 1 of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, which was part of an effort to regulate groundwater use in the San Luis Valley to achieve sustainable aquifer levels and prevent injury. The official record states that farmers in the San Luis Valley cut their water pumping by 30 percent since they started paying fees, according to a University of Colorado research team that analyzed pumping before and after the fees went into effect. Michael Jones, a fourth-generation farmer in the San Luis Valley, has been actively involved in transitioning his farm to water-efficient practices, including reducing crop acreage and improving soil health to retain moisture, as documented in High Country News.

How Sources Differ

Farmers such as Willie Myers argue that fee increases are an unfair burden and prefer caps on pumping volume. They characterize the redistribution of water access as ideological overreach. Other stakeholders acknowledge the necessity of reduction due to historic aquifer levels and the risk of state intervention if local management fails to meet the 2031 deadline.