Phil Brink Hired for New Ag Water NetWORK

In late September the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association selected Phil Brink to direct the Agriculture Water NetWORK. Brink has worked with ag producers in Colorado and elsewhere for the past 15 years, helping them with environmental compliance and nutrient management through his company, Brink Inc. He shares more about the purpose of the organization.
Brink: “The Ag Water NeWORK’s overarching goal is simply to keep ag water with and connected with ag land. So that is what really excites me beaus we need to maintain a viable and vibrant agricultural community and industry in the state of Colorado. The only way we do that in our arid state is by keeping water with our land.”
The state has a history of “Buy and Dry” — where municipalities purchase up ag water rights and then leave the ag land dry which has really had a negative impact on the ag industry as well as economic affects in rural communities and counties where that happens.
Brink: “It’s really important for ag producers to be thinking about alternative options rather than “Buy and Dry” and thinking about what sorts of lease arrangements they would be comfortable with — with regards to rotational fallowing or using less thirsty crops at x-number of years. Things like that where we could free up water to help communities meet their future water demands but at the same time — keep that water tied to the land and keep that water right whole.”
This newly created NetWORK is being funded through a grant to Partners for Western Conservation and the CCA by the Walton Family Foundation.