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DENVER — To the Colorado farmers who had their irrigation wells shut down this year, Veronica Sperling is the Wicked Witch of the West who killed their crops so thirsty communities and greedy competitors can drive them out of business and get their water cheap.
To the farmers farther down the South Platte River who blame the wells for sucking their farms dry the past three years, Sperling is a savior helping them get precious lifeblood for their livelihood.
Sperling is a water attorney who represents Boulder and Centennial, two bustling cities hungry for water. She is unapologetic about her battle with well owners, saying she's caught in a fight between people who get water from the South Platte against well owners who came late to Colorado's water wars.
To Sperling, communities have gotten a bad rap for taking legal action to shut down the farmers' wells. She said communities and farmers who have senior water rights risk losing their water if they don't fight back.
Plus, she said, farmers have been willing to sell their water rights.
"All of those water rights are transactions between willing buyers and willing sellers," she said. "If the agricultural community doesn't want to sell their water rights to cities they should just stop doing it."
The battle over water in northeastern Colorado got ugly this year after the state engineer shut down 440 wells in May, a blow affecting some 30,000 acres of farmland in Weld, Morgan and Adams counties.
Farmers relying on the wells said the move will cost them millions and force some into bankruptcy. The engineer said he had no choice because well owners had not come up with viable plans to restore the water they used to the groundwater that feeds the South Platte.
Behind the fight were farmers and cities that depend on surface water from the South Platte, including Boulder, Centennial, Highlands Ranch and Sterling. State water law guarantees that those with higher-priority rights get their share first.
John Monheiser, who has 1,800 irrigated acres and has a senior right from the South Platte dating to 1895, said his farm near the town of Crook got the water it was entitled to this season for the first time in years. He said Sperling deserves credit for saving thousands of farms.
"I call her a savior," he said.
There was almost a deal to help about 200 well-dependent farmers. Under the plan, a number of Front Range cities had agreed to bring in more water from the Western Slope, freeing up water for the farms.
The deal fell through when Boulder, Highlands Ranch and Sterling and some farmers rejected the plan, saying it could hurt the river in the long term. They feared allowing the farmers to pump from wells this year would drain the shallow aquifer that supplies both the wells and river and lead to trouble over the next few years.
To Sperling, a state law passed in 1969 that protects surface water owners from well owners is working even though it could force some farmers out of business.
People forget that other farmers watched their crops dry up when the water they were entitled to didn't make it downstream, she said. And communities counting on their share had to go to court against the well owners.
"The city of Boulder is not going to be in a position to choose junior water rights over senior water rights. What they want is for the law as it has existed since 1969 to be enforced," she said.
Tom Cech manages the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, which oversees the 440 wells that were ordered shut down. He said Sperling is a formidable foe who sparks fear in farmers on the Eastern Plains.
Farmers who relied on wells for their crops have already been forced to sell their farms because they didn't have enough water, he said, and more are expected to declare bankruptcy by the end of this year. Cech disagreed with Sperling's assertion that the sales were voluntary.
"The fact that these wells were shut off has caused people to lose their farms," he said. "More people are losing their farms and their livelihoods."
Sperling said there was no conspiracy to drive down the price of water by forcing farmers out of business. She said the city of Boulder, one of her clients, has not bought a new water right in 20 years.
She said it's no secret that her clients in booming Douglas County, south of Denver, are looking for more water.
"We're not trying to do anything behind anybody's back and drive people out of business so we can get their water rights," she said.
To the farmers farther down the South Platte River who blame the wells for sucking their farms dry the past three years, Sperling is a savior helping them get precious lifeblood for their livelihood.
Sperling is a water attorney who represents Boulder and Centennial, two bustling cities hungry for water. She is unapologetic about her battle with well owners, saying she's caught in a fight between people who get water from the South Platte against well owners who came late to Colorado's water wars.
To Sperling, communities have gotten a bad rap for taking legal action to shut down the farmers' wells. She said communities and farmers who have senior water rights risk losing their water if they don't fight back.
Plus, she said, farmers have been willing to sell their water rights.
"All of those water rights are transactions between willing buyers and willing sellers," she said. "If the agricultural community doesn't want to sell their water rights to cities they should just stop doing it."
The battle over water in northeastern Colorado got ugly this year after the state engineer shut down 440 wells in May, a blow affecting some 30,000 acres of farmland in Weld, Morgan and Adams counties.
Farmers relying on the wells said the move will cost them millions and force some into bankruptcy. The engineer said he had no choice because well owners had not come up with viable plans to restore the water they used to the groundwater that feeds the South Platte.
Behind the fight were farmers and cities that depend on surface water from the South Platte, including Boulder, Centennial, Highlands Ranch and Sterling. State water law guarantees that those with higher-priority rights get their share first.
John Monheiser, who has 1,800 irrigated acres and has a senior right from the South Platte dating to 1895, said his farm near the town of Crook got the water it was entitled to this season for the first time in years. He said Sperling deserves credit for saving thousands of farms.
"I call her a savior," he said.
There was almost a deal to help about 200 well-dependent farmers. Under the plan, a number of Front Range cities had agreed to bring in more water from the Western Slope, freeing up water for the farms.
The deal fell through when Boulder, Highlands Ranch and Sterling and some farmers rejected the plan, saying it could hurt the river in the long term. They feared allowing the farmers to pump from wells this year would drain the shallow aquifer that supplies both the wells and river and lead to trouble over the next few years.
To Sperling, a state law passed in 1969 that protects surface water owners from well owners is working even though it could force some farmers out of business.
People forget that other farmers watched their crops dry up when the water they were entitled to didn't make it downstream, she said. And communities counting on their share had to go to court against the well owners.
"The city of Boulder is not going to be in a position to choose junior water rights over senior water rights. What they want is for the law as it has existed since 1969 to be enforced," she said.
Tom Cech manages the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, which oversees the 440 wells that were ordered shut down. He said Sperling is a formidable foe who sparks fear in farmers on the Eastern Plains.
Farmers who relied on wells for their crops have already been forced to sell their farms because they didn't have enough water, he said, and more are expected to declare bankruptcy by the end of this year. Cech disagreed with Sperling's assertion that the sales were voluntary.
"The fact that these wells were shut off has caused people to lose their farms," he said. "More people are losing their farms and their livelihoods."
Sperling said there was no conspiracy to drive down the price of water by forcing farmers out of business. She said the city of Boulder, one of her clients, has not bought a new water right in 20 years.
She said it's no secret that her clients in booming Douglas County, south of Denver, are looking for more water.
"We're not trying to do anything behind anybody's back and drive people out of business so we can get their water rights," she said.
