Grand Valley Water Users Association

– Effective immediately, water restrictions are in place for ALL properties and all rides. Water delivery will be limited to 3/4 (three quarter) CFS per 40 (forty) acres.  This restriction is reflective of the Articles of Incorporation of Grand Valley Water Users Association, section 7, which read: ‘The amount of water to be delivered to such owner shall be that proportionate part to all the water available for distribution by the Association during any irrigation season…’ Restrictions will remain in place until adequate supplies are secured allowing all water users additional volume. 

– Every Property in Every Ride will be Restricted.

– Please contact your ditch rider for specific information on water delivery in your area.

Water availability and delivery update August 19th

As of Sunday, August 15th, the substitution water we had been using to supplement stream flows from Williams Fork and Wolford has been depleted. We are now using the contract water we secured from QB Energy and the City of Palisade, water from Northern Water Conservancy District and Grand County, the River District, and Ute Water. This water is coming primarily from Ruedi reservoir with the Northern/Grand County water coming down from Granby.

Without significant monsoonal moisture, this will likely be the last month of supplemented water with it coming to an end around the 3rd of September. Scroll to the bottom of this update if you’re only looking for ‘action items’ for irrigators.

That means that the water in the river will be only what is ‘naturally’ there. The natural flow is predicted to be approximately 820 cfs by the 24th of this month.

What does this mean for you as a GVWUA user?

It means that prior appropriations will mandate which entity gets the majority of the water and as the junior in the Grand Valley, let me explain the hierarchy:

• Grand Valley Irrigation Company (GVIC) is the SENIOR. They will get the first 520 cfs in the river. This is important for folks who are asking ‘Why are you shutting the canal off but GVIC says they are having a full season?’ It’s because their senior water right allows them to take everything up to 520 cfs in the river and the natural flow has never gone below 520 cfs.
• Palisade Irrigation District & Mesa County Irrigation District (PID/MCID) They are next with a combined water right of 120 cfs. Their water is delivered at the head of our canal in Palisade and from Palisade to 29 Road out of our canal. You may see water in the canal up to that point. This does not mean we are prioritizing users on the east end of the valley—it means we are honoring our carriage agreements and prior appropriations by delivering water to a senior.
• Orchard Mesa Irrigation District (OMID). Their water right is 460 cfs but this is where is gets complicated. GVWUA will be diverting part of GVIC’s water right, delivering it to OMID and they will use that water to run their hydro pumps to pump their irrigation water to the top of Orchard Mesa. The pump water is returned to the river, and checked back to GVIC to satisfy their senior right. OMID is running in restriction and we have hopes that with the low river flows, we will be able to keep peach trees and vineyards alive. The District will be alternating their canals to offer ‘some’ water to all of their users.
• Grand Valley Water Users Association (GVWUA). Although the largest in the valley, our 730 cfs water right is the junior in the valley. We are the last entity to be entitled to water in the river. That doesn’t mean we are ‘out’ of water until next year once the river falls. It just means that we will likely have dry periods of little or no water availability. We have been having conversations with our partners about water availability and have high hopes that we will be able to offer water for a week or two at a time depending on how much water is in the river and if we can alternate supplies with OMID.
• GVWUA is planning on recharging the canal and laterals ASAP and will be running into November to allow for growers to get their hay crops and winter wheat watered in. The end of the season will be dictated by dropping temps, availability and demand.

FAQ’s I would like to address:

• ‘When are you shutting down the canal?’ For clarification—We aren’t. We aren’t shutting down the canal, we will be running out of water. The difference is we shut down at the end of the season due to lack of demand and beneficial use. We go dry when the supplies are exhausted and Mother Nature can’t provide what we need. This is an important distinction.
• ‘GVIC is stating they will have a full season. Why aren’t you managing the canal so we can have a full season, too?’ See the above bullets about senior water rights and prior appropriation. It’s SO important to our state to honor and PROTECT prior appropriations, even if we aren’t the senior in this situation. Most every other year, we are at the top of the food chain, which is why the Grand Valley has always had reliable water. This is an unprecedented year.
• ‘Why can’t you give us an exact date when the canal will be dry?’ Because water and nature don’t communicate in black and white like we would like. I understand how hard this is for our Ag growers as they try to plan for purchasing seed and what seed that should be, but there’s only so much we can do.

Action Items for irrigators:

• It is your responsibility to make sure your pumps are either shut off or equipped with a pressure valve. GVWUA will not be responsible for any burned up pumps due to low water availability. (This isn’t only for this year—all pumps should have a pressure valve)
• Consider watering your canopy first—keeping your trees alive is more important than grass.
• Water when its overcast or at night to minimize evaporation.
• Water deep and less often. Roots will grow DOWN instead of OUT and this will make your turf and pasture more resilient.
• Contact our local FSA office for options for commercial growers.
• Call your ditch rider for updates on delivery.

As always, I’m happy to answer more in-depth questions and am happy to take your call.

I’m grateful for our Ag community and how hard they have worked and sacrificed to crop switch, change their irrigation practices, and support our ditch riders and field crew to extend our season for everyone. They have helped keep the entire valley green with their work. Please thank them if given the opportunity!

Thank you,

Tina Bergonzini

General Manager

*The Grand Valley Water Users Association stands firmly with our commissioner and our water users.*

The Colorado River is governed by law. By the 1922 Compact. By federal statutes and operating guidelines layered over more than a century. It is governed by infrastructure built to store, move, and deliver water across seven states under an agreed framework of rights and responsibilities that distributes water, risk and economic security.

That framework matters. The Colorado River Compact was not a suggestion; it is an executed contract. It divided the basin into Upper and Lower divisions and promised each an equitable apportionment of use. That agreement enabled the massive public works system that transformed the American Southwest, allowing cities to rise and irrigated agriculture to flourish and the Grand Valley to grow into the thriving community it is today. The legal foundation of this system is not who is largest or most politically influential, the foundation is a contract that allows each basin to develop its share of water as it sees fit.

This week, the Lower Basin governors released a joint statement regarding failure to reach a seven-state agreement by a February 14th deadline. Their statement emphasized the scale of their populations, economies, and agricultural output. But Compact apportions water equitably between geographic regions, not based on population, economic scale, or political influence. The Lower Basin’s statements seem to make an assumption that mismanaging this vital resource has somehow made them entitled to more of that same resource from Colorado while we have coveted, protected, and managed our water appropriately.

It was Colorado that first proposed the 1922 Compact, recognizing that only a binding agreement would allow our economies, our farms and our cities to prosper. And it is Colorado that finds itself defending that same agreement as the lower Basin governors call for “shared contribution” from all seven states.

When the Lower Basin states call for collaboration and shared contribution, they are asking Colorado to move beyond the Compact’s allocation framework, to absorb economic risk and uncertainty that would constrain our ability to farm, to grow our economies, and to use the water apportioned to the Upper Basin, of which only 60 percent has been developed.

Fortunately, Colorado’s lead negotiator is the bulldog we need in this moment. Becky Mitchell understands what is at stake and has refused, under pressure from environmental groups, from other states, and even from a few within Colorado, to acquiesce to demands that will injure Colorado and the Grand Valley.

GVWUA has participated in past pilot projects exploring voluntary, temporary and compensated conservation and been willing participants in numerous water-saving endeavors. The determined and nimble producers in the Grand Valley understand the importance of conservation, living within what the river provides, and they acknowledge a drier and hotter climate will bring changes to their operations and to our communities. However, the Lower Basin states need to recognize these hydrologic realities and make the changes necessary to correct the system they have failed through chronic and continued overuse. GVWUA will not ask our producers to bear the burden of Lower Basin mismanagement and their continued denial of the realities in front of them.

When we are confident that true conservation efforts are being discussed; programs that support not only the Lower Basin producers, but the Upper Basin’s users as well, we will be ready to support our commissioner and be part of the real work of supporting our neighboring Lower Basin states while they fix what they have broken.

Samantha Barncastle was recently featured on the Fill Your Plate Now podcast to discuss the critical role water plays in sustaining agriculture across the West.

Drawing on more than 17 years in water law and her background as part of a multigenerational farming family, Sam explains why Western irrigated agriculture produces a significant share of the nation’s fruits, vegetables, nuts, and dairy – and why reliable water delivery is essential to keeping that system functioning.

The conversation highlights the growing challenges facing farmers and ranchers, including aging infrastructure, regulatory delays, litigation pressures, and broader economic headwinds. At the same time, it points to opportunities through innovation, from precision irrigation to new crop development and collaborative solutions.

This episode offers a clear look at how water policy connects directly to food security, rural economies, and the long-term resilience of communities across the 17 Western states.

Why the West’s Irrigated Farms Are Critical to America’s Food Security, Episode 62 – YouTube

Zebra Mussels and the Government Highline Canal

As we respond to this new threat, we appreciate our water user’s diligence and willingness to keep an eye out for anything that appears suspect to them. Zebra mussels can cause extensive and expensive damage to our system unlike anything we’ve deal with before.

The picture taken on the paper towel are of native Corbicula clams not zebra mussels. The picture of the mussel on the person’s hand are zebra mussels and the pest we need you to watch for!

We would rather you send us pictures of native, non-harmful species and risk being wrong then send no pictures at all!

Never hesitate to reach out to our office staff at info@gvwua.com or your ditch rider with questions or concerns.