Colorado is examining water speculation, and finding it’s ‘all the problems’ in one
Melting snow and flowing irrigation ditches mean spring has finally arrived at the base of Grand Mesa in western Colorado. Harts Basin Ranch, a 3,400-acre expanse of hayfields and pasture just south of Cedaredge, in Delta County, is coming back to life with the return of water. … The ranch has the No. 1 priority water right — meaning the oldest, which comes with the ability to use the creek’s water first — dating to 1881. … [The ranch's owners] have been accused of water speculation — which means buying up the ranch just for its senior water rights and hoarding them for a future profit.