The Ogallala Aquifer is the primary source of drinking water and all other water needs for farmers, ranchers and communities in the Eastern Plains. Farmers in the region fear that once their groundwater is contaminated, it would be difficult and prohibitively expensive to clean up. In southeastern Colorado, members of the Rush Creek Users Association in Kiowa County discovered that three wells at a large-scale hog farm owned by pork producer Newsham Hybrid were contaminated. Although, it would take further analysis to determine the exact source of this pollution, this field had been sprayed with hog waste as fertilizer 4 and hog waste is a rich source of nitrogen. 5 Colorado's feedlot water issues, however, could extend far beyond contamination problems.
Water availability is of particular concern in semi-arid Colorado.
CAFOs in the state use a tremendous amount of water, mostly extracted from aquifers, for flushing animal waste out of pig houses and watering the animals. The amendment adopted this fall sets, for the first time in Colorado, a statewide permitting system for large hog operations. Prior to the adoption of the amendment, operations were not required to get any state permits. Until the new permitting system is implemented and enforced, the exact number of large-scale hog operations and lagoons will remain a mystery. For years, Colorado had feedlot regulations on the books designed to assure compliance with the Clean Water Act, but the state has never had the staff or funds to enforce them beyond the occasional response to a complaint.