The Yuma County Water Authority was expected to vote on approval of the purchase agreement with the Pioneer and Laird senior surface water owners, Wednesday night during its meeting in Eckley.

After years of searching, Cherokee Metropolitan District thinks it has found a water source: underneath 85 properties outside its boundaries in northeast El Paso County. The fast-growing district is using leases it signed in the mid-1950's with Ellicott-area property owners when the area was a sparse colection of farms.

The public took a crack at the first subdistrict plan San Luis Valley water officials hope will stabilize area aquifers and protect senior surface rights users. It is  hoped this can eliminate the need for the state engineer's office to impose groundwater pumping rules as has been done in other basins around Colorado.

Some northern Colorado farmers who had their groundwater pumps shut off last summer will try to convince a state panel this week that they're not drawing down the South Platte River.