They worry their livelihoods could be in the same sort of crisis that has stricken the dry South, especially if the winter doesn't bring heavy snows to replenish the soil and fill rivers and lakes. For John Shawcroft, trouble is already here. From Montana to New Mexico, the Rocky Mountain region is parched. Ranchers and farmers are struggling as counties across Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico seek federal disaster relief. Much of the region's water comes from mountain snow that melts, flows into rivers and lakes and is shipped by pipelines to the high plains.
Wells tap underground water formations.
Now wells are drying up in some spots and some rivers are low because of last spring's low snowpack. Many farmers along the Front Range who irrigate crops have already depleted their share of water. Only the Western Slope's fruit growers are reporting bountiful crops. He went nearly two months without rain last spring and recent thunderstorms that soaked parts of the plains have skipped his land. Roberts' wheat harvest in July was only a third of what it should have been, and his corn crop is a loss.