In the lower Arkansas Valley, farm water can be bought and moved away

If you are looking at farmland in Bent County, the water that comes with it may be the most important thing on the page.

Farms in the lower Arkansas Valley are watered by canals and ditches that pull from the Arkansas River. The right to use that water is a property right of its own. For decades, Front Range cities have bought irrigation water rights here and moved the water away for municipal use. When the water leaves, the land it once watered can dry up. People call this “buy and dry.”

This matters for a buyer in a plain way. A parcel that looks like it could be irrigated may no longer carry the water to do it. Or it may carry shares in a ditch that come with their own rules and yearly costs. The water right and the dirt are two separate questions, and one does not promise the other.

There is also a local district, the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, that works on these water issues across the valley, including Bent County.

Before counting on irrigation, confirm exactly what water right attaches to the parcel and whether it has been sold or changed. Start with the Colorado Division of Water Resources and the local water district.