Colorado is confronting the reality of a warming climate, and greater percentages of the state’s rain and snowmelt are being lost to evaporation.  This past winter was an anomaly compared to recent years, depositing a snowpack of greater than 140 percent of its average by the end of March [1].  To keep river and reservoir levels from receding further, winters like the one the state just experienced would have to become the norm.  More typical weather patterns of drought and warmer temperatures make the chance of that happening for consecutive years unlikely.  To combat the losses, conservation is the only navigable option, and the state is incorporating conservation easements into its water management arsenal to protect groundwater levels.

San Luis Valley, a desert farming region located in southern Colorado where agriculture contributes 70 percent to the region’s economy, relies heavily on groundwater pumping for irrigation[2] Current usage is depleting resources beyond recharge capacity, and the state is likely to intervene with well shutdowns if corrective actions are not taken.  Water districts in the region have utilized fallow programs, drought contracts, and incentives to reduce pumping to balance losses, but these methods have proven insufficient to meet recharge demands in an acceptable amount of time. 

Conservation easements apply to groundwater pumping and offer a more timely, long-term alternative.  Much like land easements, an appraisal is made of a landowner’s water and an easement is created.  The easement is then purchased or donated to a governmental agency or a land trust that assumes responsibility for enforcing the constraints of the easement.  In addition to groundwater protections, easements offer two additional benefits:  First, the easement’s value can be deducted from federal and some state taxes (Colorado extends a state income tax credit); second, easements are enacted in perpetuity and do not require renewal.

The first groundwater conservation easement agreement in the San Luis Valley was signed in November 2022, but they are not a new concept.  Similar easements have been an effective tool in Nebraska for 15 years, and now New Mexico and Texas are interested in the idea, as well. The easements offer the San Luis Valley subdistricts the ability to reduce groundwater pumping while preserving its economic security, benefits that would be advantageous to many communities.

[1] Smith, Jerd. “It’s All White: Colorado Statewide Snowpack Tops 140%, Though Reservoirs Still Low.” Water Education Colorado, 29 Mar. 2023, www.watereducationcolorado.org/fresh-water-news/its-all-white-colorado-statewide-snowpack-tops-140-though-reservoirs-still-low/#:~:text=While%20no%20one%20is%20suggesting,snowpack%20of%20179%25%20of%20average.

[2] Warner, Abby. “Groundwater Conservation Easements for Aquifer Recovery in the San Luis Valley.” ColoradoOpenLands.Org, coloradoopenlands.org/wp-content/uploads/Groundwater-Conservation-Easements-for-Aquifer-Recovery-in-the-San-Luis-Valley-web.pdf. Accessed 18 May 2023.