Colorado Springs will not annex a planned 6,500-home development opposed by farmers downstream on the Arkansas River, who feared the addition would require the growing city to buy more of the water they rely on for their crops.
Voters in Colorado’s second-largest city on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected the annexation of the Karman Line development in a special citywide election called to decide the issue. The planned development sparked an intense debate about what the growth of Colorado Springs — and other large Front Range cities — should look like amid finite water resources.
Of the 78,052 votes counted as of Wednesday morning, 82% were against the annexation.
“Thank you to Colorado Springs voters for recognizing the concerns of the Lower Arkansas Valley about water, the lifeblood of our food systems, rural economies, and agricultural heritage,” said Jack Goble, the general manager of the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, in a statement Wednesday. “And thank you to the people of the Lower Arkansas Valley for coming together with a shared message. The coordination and unity across our communities played a meaningful role in shaping this outcome.”
Colorado Springs Utilities estimates that it will need 34,000 more acre-feet of water than it currently has to meet annual water demand when the city is fully developed inside its current boundaries, which is projected to occur around 2070. Every annexation to the city would expand that supply gap, including Karman Line, which would have required about 1,672 acre-feet of water a year.
An acre-foot of water is the amount of water needed to cover an acre in a foot of water — 325,851 gallons — and is generally enough to provide for two Colorado families’ yearly needs.
The potential need for more water alarmed farmers downstream on the Arkansas River. Historically, Colorado Springs and other Front Range cities have purchased water rights from farmers to increase their water supplies when needed.
Farmers and community leaders in the Lower Arkansas River Valley said moving water from their fields to urban and suburban homes not only dries up their businesses, it also desiccates entire communities where agriculture is the economic and cultural backbone.
The river irrigates about 220,000 acres of farmland in the valley.
The vote Tuesday overturned the Colorado Springs City Council’s approval of the development. Council members approved the Karman Line annexation in January but were forced to reconsider the decision after city residents launched a successful petition drive, forcing officials to either reject the annexation or send it to a citywide vote.
The council in April opted to let voters decide the future of the 1,900-acre development after hearing from farmers and residents concerned about how the development would stretch city resources.
A string of county and town governments along the Arkansas River passed resolutions opposed to the annexation, including county commissions for Otero, Prowers and Crowley counties.
A major investor in the Karman Line plans told The Gazette that in the wake of the vote, “Karman Line goes away, but the community problems (that motivated the rejection) do not go away.”
About 90% of all water used in Colorado goes to the state’s $47 billion agriculture industry, 7% toward municipal and business use, and 3% for large industrial projects, according to the Colorado Water Plan.
As the state’s population grows, water experts estimate that municipal and industrial water users will need at least 230,000 acre-feet more water annually by 2050 — though the gap could be as large as 740,000 acre-feet. Already, agricultural producers regularly do not receive their full allotment of water because there is not enough.
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