Big Win for Southeastern Colorado HB26-1340 Passes Colorado Legislature

The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District thanks our prime bill sponsors Representative Ty Winter, Representative Tisha Mauro, Senator Rod Pelton, and Senator Nick Hinrichsen for their leadership and bipartisan commitment in advancing HB26-1340 through the Colorado General Assembly.

More than 100,000 acres of irrigated farmland in Colorado’s Arkansas River Basin have been permanently dried up in recent decades, often to supply additional water to growing municipalities far from the communities where the water originated. Too often, the land left behind has become a burden on neighboring landowners and rural communities, contributing to blowing dust, invasive weeds, erosion, fire risk, and public safety concerns.

HB26-1340 establishes clear expectations that when water is permanently removed from farmland, the land must be responsibly reclaimed through revegetation or conversion to dryland farming, unless it is being re-irrigated or developed for another approved use.

The bill also strengthens the role of local counties by requiring water courts to incorporate county revegetation criteria and enforcement mechanisms into change-of-use decrees.

The bill now heads to Governor Jared Polis for signature into law.