Irrigators utilizing water from Jackson Gulch Reservoir would be able to increase their farm size under a proposed contract amendment to be negotiated with the Mancos Water Conservancy District next month.

The amendment seeks to increase the amount of land a farmer can irrigate with water taken from Jackson Reservoir from 160 acres per person to 750 acres per person. The revised contract would allow farms, along with their water rights, to be sold and consolidated into bigger, more profitable units.

"It’s really a change of ownership deal that gives farmers the option to farm a larger area. That’s important because nowadays it often takes more than 160 acres of farm land for a family to make a living at it," said Richard Gjere, the Bureau of Reclamation official working on the negotiations.

Jackson Gulch reservoir holds 10,000 acre-feet of water for agriculture needs in the Mancos Valley and for municipal water in the town of Mancos. It was built as part of the $3.9 million Mancos Water Project in the 1940’s, falling under a unique set of regulations that restricted the amount of irrigable land each farmer could use to160 acres, Gjere said. But because the project was authorized by such laws, it did not fall under the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 which considerably raised allowable water entitlements for land owners of other water projects, such as McPhee, in order to adjust to the demands of a more competitive agricultural market.

"This will update the repayment contract so that it is more consistent with other water projects, and to give those who have a desire to expand the option to do so," he said. "Everyone else got their (larger) acreage limitation under the 1982 Reform Act, but since the Mancos (Project) was authorized under a unique set of different laws, it did not effect (them)."

"We’ve been having to limit a husband and wife to 320 acres, so this would allow them to acquire more land, assuming someone is willing to sell."

The proposed 750-acre limit is based on a farm unit size study prepared by the Department of Agriculture and approved by the Bureau of Reclamation.

The Mancos Water Conservancy District will pay off its share of the project, or $900,000, by 2014 from revenue derived from selling the water. Approximately $675,000 has already been paid by the District, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

Negotiations to amend the original 1942 Mancos Water Project repayment contract will be held by the Mancos Water Conservancy District and the Bureau of Reclamation on March 9 at 7 p.m. in the District’s office, 42888 Country Road N, north of Mancos.