For decades, the San Luis Valley has been shipping out its irreplaceable aquifer water one potato at a time. While the trucks are filling with moist potatoes, the aquifer is draining to levels widely expected to hit historic lows at this month’s official measurement. … The local water conservation district is pushing a state-approved plan in water court that would charge a group of well-dependent farmers … $500 an acre-foot for water. … While high-profile special interests and advocates from Denver to Las Vegas to Los Angeles make noise about the crisis in Colorado River flows, the Rio Grande has quietly become one of the most troubled major rivers in the U.S. … Climate change and long-term drought have robbed the headwaters region of significant water. Farmers accelerated the drain by punching thousands of wells into the unconfined aquifer to water potatoes, barley, alfalfa and cattle. 

Related:

• Inside Climate News: A Colorado water trial could decide the future of an agricultural valley