BLM Director Tracy Stone Manning (third from right) spend a day touring Battle Creek and other areas of the Little Snake River watershed – a tributary to the Colorado River – with Family Farm Alliance President Pat O’Toole, his family, and other local resource managers.
Photo courtesy of Ladder Ranch.
Standing up for Colorado River Agriculture
….Plus, other Colo. River Basin policy developments
Family Farm Alliance President Patrick O’Toole, whose family owns and operates a sheep and cattle ranch on the Wyoming-Colorado border, vigorously argued for the importance of Colorado River agriculture in a panel discussion last month at a prestigious University of Colorado water conference.
“All Colorado River water users need certainty for effective future planning,” said Mr. O’Toole. “Agricultural water users need – and want – to help shape their future, instead of relying upon others to design their future for them.”
The Colorado River serves 40 million individuals and irrigates 5.5 million acres of farmland across seven states. More than two decades of drought have significantly diminished flows in the 1,450-mile-long river, and drained water supplies in lakes Powell and Mead, which also provide hydropower to millions of people.
Mr. O’Toole and his fellow panelists – including another member of the Alliance – focused on the role farmers and ranchers can play to drive solutions to the Colorado River crisis at the 43rd Annual Conference on Natural Resources at the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment.
Mr. O’Toole participated in a June 9 panel titled, “How Can Agriculture Thrive with Less Water?”. He was joined by fellow panelists Meghan Scott (Noble Law Firm, Yuma, Arizona), Mark Squillace (University of Colorado Law School) and Jim Holway (Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy).
CLICK HERE to download the PDF Version of the July 2023 edition of the “Monthly Briefing”, where you can read more about this, other recent Colorado River Basin policy developments, and these other important issues to Western water users, from a perspective that you won’t find anywhere else:
- Alliance Witness Testifies at House Legislative Hearing
- Save the Date! September Washington State Fall Farm Tour Planned
- Importance of Snake River Dams Highlighted
- BLM on the Hot Seat for Draft Conservation Rule
- Water Users Applaud SCOTUS Decision in Arizona v Navajo Nation
- Western Water Bills Introduced in Advance of July Senate Hearing
- Agencies Roll Out Proposed ESA Rule Revisions….More Rulemaking Coming, Including on WOTUS
- Following Debt Ceiling Deal, Congress Shifts Attention to Farm Bill
- House Committee Approves FY 2024 Energy-Water Appropriations Bill
- A Big “Thank You” to our New and Supporting Members!
Please do not hesitate to contact dan@familyfarmalliance.org if you have any difficulties downloading the July 2023 “Monthly Briefing”.