WATER AND WINE

By DAN WEST

Dan.West@gjsentinel.com

A Thursday presentation at VinCo, the annual grape growing and winemaking conference, from the Colorado River District highlighted how drought and hotter temperatures will affect Colorado’s agriculture industry.

Dave Matters, Colorado River District director of science and interstate matters, said local temperatures in the Grand Valley and western Colorado have increased by as much as 4.2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1895. Each degree of temperature increase results in 3% to 9% reduction in streamflow, he said.

“You can see how climate has changed, just the warming, just the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit in the bullseye, in the heart of the upper Colorado River basin,” Kanzer said. “These are lower elevations, so that’s the good news, but right here where you’re growing grapes, where you’re making wine, it’s some of the hottest temperatures that we’ve seen — about 5 degrees Fahrenheit.”

The hotter temperatures and drier weather are causing states to pursue solutions to use less water, Kanzer said. Much of the water used in the seven Colorado River Basin states is consumed by agriculture.

“Wine growers, you’re not the biggest water user in terms of volume of water consumed,” Kanzer said. “Wine growing … uses up a very small amount of water. It’s some of the other agricultural interests (corn, wheat, hay, alfalfa). Ag does use the most water — 80% of the Colorado River resources are dedicated to agriculture.”

One strategy, which the federal government has allocated funds for, is paying producers to use less water, Kanzer said. There are several strategies growers can use, including fallowing land for a period of time.

“The concept now is to reduce the take that ag is putting on the footprint, the depletions,” Kanzer said. “How do we do that? Well, we’re either taking land out of production or we’re using new techniques. We’re deficit irrigating, which means using less water at certain times of the year, but still irrigating and possibly getting paid for it.”

Kanzer said the Federal government offered $509 per acre-foot of water conserved. Applications for that program closed in December 2023.

New and improved irrigation technology can also play a part in reducing agricultural water usage, Kanzer said. That includes covering or piping irrigation ditches.

“Really the easiest way and the win-win is to put ditches into pipes to pressurize systems,” Kanzer said. “You all do this. If you’re running a vineyard you can’t flood irrigate. It doesn’t work. It’s much better to have pressurized sprinklers, micro-jets and control what you are applying.”

Although the situation is serious, Kanzer said there are signs of progress. The amount of water used per person in the Colorado River Basin states is declining, despite increases in population, he said.

“Across all seven basin states the per capita use is going down,” Kanzer said. “We are adding to all of our population centers significantly, whether it’s Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, they are using the same or less water.”

Kazer said more information on the Colorado River District can be found at coloradoriverdistrict. org/annual-report.

Katie Klene, left, and Stephanie Brauns harvest grapes at Restoration Vineyards in this 2020 file photo. Drought and hotter temperatures in Colorado means there is less water available for agriculture — including vineyards. New and improved irrigation technology can also play a part in reducing agricultural water usage.

SENTINEL FILE PHOTO

Vineyards, like Grande River Vineyards in Palisade, don’t use as much water as other agricultural pursuits, but they still need water, which is decreasing because of drought and warmer temperatures.

CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSON/ The Daily Sentinel