Super Ditch to be Incorporated

     

 

To:       Press   

From:   Bill Hancock, Conservation Program Manager, Lower Arkansas Valley Water
            Conservancy District
            801 Swink Av.
            Rocky Ford, Co 81067

Date:    4/28/2008

 

For Immediate Release

Super Ditch to Be Incorporated

The Super Ditch Corporation which is a water leasing and land fallowing program involving canal shareholders on canals located between Pueblo Reservoir and John Martin Reservoir will be officially incorporated with the Secretary of State on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 11:30 am at the offices of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District.

A steering committee consisting of canal board of directors along with LAVWCD staff, attorneys, engineers and economists have been working out the details of how the Super Ditch would operate.  The goal of this group was to create a structure where by local irrigators acting as one entity could negotiate potential leases with municipalities.  Once an acceptable lease is negotiated, the shareholders under the different canals would then have the opportunity to decide if that particular lease is something that fit his or her particular operation.

The concept of the Super Ditch as envisioned by the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District is to strengthen local agriculture by giving the water owners a means to capitalize on  the value of their irrigation water by working together and still retain ownership of their water and continue farming.  Leasing instead of the buy and dry method used by municipalities in the past has several advantages to the farmer and the rural communities that they help support.  The farmers realize top price for the water they lease, continue farming, have a guaranteed income.  The local communities benefit because the tax base does not change, farmers remain active in the community and hopefully everyone will see a more prosperous economy.

The next step is the incorporation of the Super Ditch which will take place on May 7th.  The shareholders of individual canals who sign on as incorporators and attend the meeting on May 7th will then elect one person from each participating canal as the initial member of the board of directors of the newly formed Super Ditch Corporation.  The initial board of directors will then start lease negotiations with the different interested cities and municipalities who have indicated a willingness to lease water.

Shareholders from the Oxford, Highline, Catlin, Otero, Holbrook and Fort Lyon canals are encouraged to attend the May 7th meeting and have a say in who is your first board member of the Super Ditch Corporation.

For more information, please contact the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District at 719-254-5115.