Restoring Aquifers and Dealing With Drought at the San Luis Valley Irrigation District
The Rio Grande Reservoir.
T
he San Luis Valley Irrigation District (SLVID) services 62,000 acres of agricultural land in south-central Colorado with water rights on the Rio Grande that date back as far as 1887. Today, the San Luis Valley and the Rio Grande as a whole have been experiencing a serious drought for close to 20 years. In response, farmers in the valley have collaborated to reduce water use and replenish local aquifers. In this interview, SLVID Superintendent Robert Phillips tells Irrigation Leader about how the district is responding to these challenges on the upper Rio Grande. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
28 | IRRIGATION LEADER | March 2021
Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the SLVID. Robert Phillips: The irrigation district was formed on December 10, 1908. It comprises 62,000 acres of farmland in the central and northeastern parts of the San Luis Valley of south-central Colorado. The SLVID owns the Farmers’ Union Canal, which diverts water off the Rio Grande and provides surface water supplies within the SLVID service area for irrigation and recharge purposes. The canal has direct-flow water rights from the river dating as far back as April 1, 1887, and as recent as June 30, 1893. The district has a total of nine direct-flow water rights in the canal, adding up to a total diversion rate of 800 cubic feet per irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SLVID.
Robert Phillips: My parents began their careers as farmers in the San Luis Valley in the 1950s and eventually moved into the education sector in the nearby schools. I grew up in the town of Center, where the SLVID office is located. I graduated from Center High School; received a bachelor of science in agriculture from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa; and earned a master’s degree in water resources at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I have worked for the Colorado Division of Water Resources in divisions 2 and 3 in the positions of water commissioner and reservoir operations specialist and as a physical science research scientist.
While in division 2, I worked for division engineer Steve Witte and became familiar with the Arkansas River and agricultural producers in that area. In division 3, which encompasses the Rio Grande basin and the San Luis Valley, I worked for division engineers Steve Vandiver and Craig Cotten as the water commissioner and as a physical science research scientist. I then moved on to be a program manager at the Rio Grande Water Conservation District (RGWCD) and managed the first groundwater management subdistrict in the San Luis Valley for 6 years. In 2018, I was offered the superintendent’s position at the SLVID and have been here ever since.
