Background
Commencing in 2001, Southwestern began acquiring water rights in several different projects. Most notable of those projects is High Plains A&M, LLC, an affiliated entity of Southwestern. Over the course of more than 120 transactions, High Plains purchased more than 18,280 acres of land and more than 21,300 shares (equivalent to more than 60,000 acre feet) of Senior 1883 Water Rights in the Arkansas River Valley.

High Plains A&M, LLC water shares are delivered through the Fort Lyon Canal, which diverts water from the Arkansas River near La Junta, Colorado. The canal is more than 100 miles long and is maintained by the Fort Lyon Canal Company (“FLCC”). The canal serves approximately 93,000 acres of farmland with irrigation water. The canal traverses Bent, Otero, and Prowers Counties, Colorado.

The water rights that use the Fort Lyon Canal date back to the early 1880's (Senior Water Rights) and FLCC’s two principal reservoirs, Horse Creek and Adobe Creek, have over 100,000 acre feet of decreed water storage rights.

All of the land and farms acquired by High Plains are currently leased and are in production. Additionally, for lands historically not suitable for farming (grazing and grasslands), all of it is also under lease for livestock grazing.

In the future, when High Plains’ water is transferred to the Front Range communities, the lands will be returned to their native state with re-vegetation of plans and grasses indigenous to the region.

Development Goals
The strategy, over time, has been to maximize the best uses of the water and to deliver a portion of it to Front Range communities, while being sensitive to the interests and needs of the agricultural community on the Arkansas River, the FLCC, and to continue to enhance the value of these water rights.

High Plains’ engineering, water, and legal consultants conducted extensive examinations of the historical uses of the each of the shares of Fort Lyon Canal water rights, and of the farms, that it purchased (such as types of crops grown, irrigation methods, crop yields, farming efficiencies, the historic river flow and canal flows, etc.) to determine the consumptive use of farming and the availability of water from this source, for delivery to the Front Range.

Sale to Pure Cycle Corporation (view press release)
In May, 2006, High Plains entered into an agreement to sell to Pure Cycle Corporation of Thornton, Colorado, High Plains’ water and land interests in the Arkansas River Valley.  Pure Cycle plans to work with the recently created Colorado Inter Basin Compact Committee (the "IBCC"), in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, water providers from across the state, and environmental and recreational interests to find creative solutions to maintaining farm operations through improved agricultural efficiencies, annual crop rotations, and other innovative ideas to allow a portion of the water to be used in metropolitan areas, while continuing to maintain or enhance the local farming interests. Visit Pure Cycle’s website at www.purecyclewater.com for more information on the company.

Shares Sold to Local Farmers
Southwestern Investment Group sold 56 shares of LAWMA (Lower Arkansas Water Management Association) for $96,992. The shares were sold to three local farmers for use as an augmentation source for their irrigation wells. The LAWMA shares were acquired in addition to the Fort Lyon Canal shares through the High Plains farm purchases.

LAWMA was created as a result of the Kansas vs. Colorado Lawsuit concerning the pumping of irrigation wells located in areas tributary to the Arkansas River. LAWMA purchased the direct flow rights associated with the X-Y Canal, the Buffalo Canal, the Stubbs portion of the Sisson-Stubbs Ditch, the Manvel Canal, 90% of the Highland Canal, 50% of the Keesee Ditch and shares in the Lamar Canal and Fort Bent Canal. The lands historically irrigated by these water rights have been dried up and the water rights are left in or returned through augmentation stations to the Arkansas River to create consumptive use credits that are in turn used to offset the impact to the river as a result of the irrigation wells being pumped. LAWMA filed an application in water court to adjudicate the above mentioned water rights. In 2006 Stipulations were reached with all objectors to the application. The Court Decree is being reviewed by the State Engineer's Office and final Decree should be entered in the near future.

Downloadable pdfs

High Plains Project Overview 1

High Plains Project Overview 2

High Plains Project Overview 3