The Denver Post’s April 6 article “Who will give up their water?” missed an opportunity to provide a broader perspective of the possibilities that exist when cities and agriculture work together to manage limited water resources.

Colorado Springs Utilities is implementing solutions with our agriculture partners in the Arkansas Basin through our water sharing program. This program provides new water sources for Colorado Springs users by leaving water rights with farmers and instead leasing leftover water from efficiencies or rotational sharing agreements.

Together, we’re designing ways to share our resources to benefit the Lower Arkansas Valley. These farmers have been instrumental in guiding our water sharing program, but were not included in the article to provide a more balanced view of a complex issue. Readers may have been left with the impression that cities and farmers are always at odds.

Agriculture is a valuable contributor to the state economy and to food security. Municipalities also contribute substantially to the state’s gross domestic product. While often the target of frustration for the challenges that come with population growth, cities comprise only 7% of statewide water use but serve more than 4.5 million residents, as well as businesses, industries and essential services. Colorado Springs is home to many of these, including five military installations, specialized health care and higher education institutions that serve our region, state and nation.

Importantly, Colorado Springs’ location in the Arkansas Basin distinguishes it from other Front Range cities when it comes to the use of basin water. We pay taxes that support the administration of the Fryingpan-Arkansas project and participate in voluntary flow management programs. Because we plan for dry years, we can continue the historic practice of providing surplus water from our city to farmers in wetter periods. This supply is an important part of the water used throughout the Lower Arkansas Valley and would be difficult to replace.

City residents in Colorado understand that water must be used responsibly. Our Colorado Springs customers have reduced their per capita consumption by 40% since 2001. Additional water savings are included in our long-term plan to help meet projected future demand, as well as guard against drought. The plan also includes increased water storage, reuse and our agricultural water sharing program.

As the largest water user in the state, agriculture has been identified by the Colorado Water Conservation Board to help close the state’s projected water supply gap. Both the Colorado Water Plan and the Arkansas Basin Implementation Plan identify water sharing as the preferred method for transferring a small percentage of water from agriculture to other uses. Our water sharing program operates within these guidelines.

Most Lower Arkansas Valley agriculture relies on flood irrigation. Our program pays for the installation of more efficient center pivot irrigation on farms. We only take delivery of the water associated with the corner acres that are no longer in production. The farm’s economic production is preserved, and the remaining water is tied to the farmland.

As our existing water sharing projects are in Bent County, we negotiated an intergovernmental agreement with the Board of Commissioners that limits the volume of water that may be developed, as well as the amount of dry-up that can occur. It also provides on-going economic mitigation payments to the county. This kind of agreement ensures benefits go directly to the impacted community.

Water quality and the impact of Fountain Creek on the Lower Arkansas Valley are issues we take seriously. Colorado Springs Utilities participates with other cities and agriculture representatives throughout the Basin using a science-based approach to identify the causes of water-quality issues.

We provided $50 million for Fountain Creek District formation and mitigation efforts that are showing positive results, while funding more than $1 million annually for on-going monitoring. The study also considers agriculture practices that can affect water quality.

The history of water in Colorado provides important lessons about how the management of this essential resource can adapt to our state’s ever-changing needs. Cities, farms, recreation and environmental health are all vital. We’re pursuing a future in which collaboration and innovation allow all communities in our basin to thrive.

Travas Deal is the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities, which delivers electricity, natural gas, water and wastewater services to the Pikes Peak region.