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Where Should The Water Go In The Farming And Urban Divide?

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11min 17sec
Irrigation outside of Antonito in the San Luis Valley. Aug. 25, 2021.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Irrigation outside of Antonito in the San Luis Valley. Aug. 25, 2021.

"Whiskey’s for drinking, water’s for fighting" goes the old saying in the West. Well there’s a new fight in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. An investment company wants to pump water out of the underground aquifer and pipe it to fast-growing Denver suburbs 200 miles away. State Senator Cleave Simpson represents the San Luis Valley. He’s also a farmer and serves as general manager of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District.