The communities of southeast Colorado — and the farmers who produce Pueblo chiles, Rocky Ford cantaloupes, hay, beef and other local foods — throughout the Lower Arkansas Valley are uniting in opposition to the proposed Karman Line development, which goes to Colorado Springs voters on June 17 in a special election. According to the city, there are six separate formal annexations east of the city totaling 1,912 acres and the 2023 application to annex the property was reviewed per the standard process. The project was approved, then challenged, and then the city council referred the ballot question to voters after signatures were collected from city residents to do so.

According to the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, which serves Pueblo, Crowley, Bent, Otero and Prowers counties, the annexation has drawn criticism for its use of a controversial “flagpole annexation” method — where distant parcels are connected to the city through a long, thin strip of land, enabling non-contiguous development. The land is a proposed 1,900-acre-development to include 6,500 homes and commercial space, all 3.5 miles east of the city. The development is projected to require an additional 1,700 acre feet of water per year, in addition to the current projected shortfall of 34,000 acre feet for planned future growth within existing city limits.

This development comes on the heels of the Amara development, a 3,200-acre-flagpole annexation that would have required 3,500 acre-feet of water annually. That proposal was rejected by city council on a 5-4 vote in 2024 after much high-profile public opposition, including testimony from Arkansas Valley farmers, the president of the Broadmoor, and a letter from United Healthcare.

In February, the LAVWCD board of directors passed a resolution expressing concern that much of the water to meet Colorado Springs’ growing demands would likely come from farms in the Lower Arkansas Valley. According to the district, the city of Colorado Springs already has a projected 34,000 acre-feet annual water supply gap and has proposed the project which would annex land outside the city of Colorado Springs.

The annexation has drawn criticism not only for its water implications, but also for its use of a controversial “flagpole annexation” method – where distant parcels are connected to the city through a long, thin strip of land, enabling non-contiguous development.

DEMAND AND QUALITY CONCERNS

For the communities in the Lower Arkansas Valley, the added demand for water is paramount, as is the reduced water quality resulting from additional shares. The Karman Line represents about 2,000-acres potentially dried. The shares are pumped directly out of the Pueblo Reservoir, where the water is cleaner than further southeast down the line. More water pumped out at the reservoir means less water and lower quality water at the end of the line for southeast Colorado communities.

“We recognize that Colorado Springs is growing, and we’re not here to stand in the way of progress,” said Rob Oquist, Otero County Commissioner. “But growth must be balanced with long-term water planning. Voters in Colorado Springs have a real opportunity to consider how decisions made today will affect not just their own community, but rural areas like ours that are part of the same watershed. We’re asking for thoughtful, responsible growth that doesn’t come at the expense of agricultural regions downstream.”

Jack Goble, general manager of the LAVWCD said the city already shoulders the burden of securing 34,000 acre feet of water to support the development of tens of thousands of undeveloped acres already within city limits, some of which has been committed. Further increasing that demand puts more land used for agriculture production and the rural communities that depend upon agriculture to survive both at risk.

Goble said the city technically has the water for future projects through previous purchases of agriculture land now converted to pastures, such as the 24,000 acre foot annexation of the Banning Lewis Ranch.

“They’ve been committed water once they are developed,” Goble said. “This Karman line if it were developed before Banning Lewis, which it would be, would basically mean they’re jumping ahead of them in line so that 34,000 acre foot number grows to 35,700-acre feet.”

There are two main groups that haven’t formally opposed the development, including Bent County out of fear of violating an existing Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Colorado Springs that allows the city to remove 15,000 acre feet annually in exchange for mitigation payments. Pueblo County will be formally asked to pass a resolution opposing the project next week.

Prior to the late 1980s, Crowley County was a prolific agriculture producing area, with well over 50,000 acres of irrigated sugar beets and produce. After water sales to Colorado Springs dried those acres, only about 1,994 irrigated acres are in production according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. That deal, according to Goble, was a buy and dry whereas the water deals of today are not a total dry up. In many cases, the farmers are installing center pivot irrigation sprinklers and the unirrigated corners outside the reach of the end guns are dried. It is, he said, more like one-third of the field rather than all.

The Wertz brothers entered a water sharing deal with Colorado Springs and the first of the changes have been filed in water court in the past few days. Much of that water, he said, is purchased by Carl Nyquist, a water speculator who owns farmground under Arkansas River Farms.

Resolutions in opposition have been passed by the Otero County Board of County Commissioners; Prowers County Board of County Commissioners; Crowley County Board of County Commissioners; City of La Junta City Council; Town of Ordway Board of Trustees; Otero County Farm Bureau; Lamar City Council; Las Animas City Council; and the Rocky Ford City Council.