Each week, we talk with our colleagues at The Colorado Sun about the stories they’re following. This time, Editor Larry Ryckman joins us to discuss the rapidly drying Republican River and stories from migrants about their arduous journey to Denver.
The Republican River has been drying up for decades, and it's changing the way people around it live.
Ryckman told KUNC farmers in the river's South Fork basin near Stratton are required to permanently shut down water wells in order to give Kansas its due share of water from the Republican under interstate compacts. Drying up so much of these farmers' lands is changing the economy, and even the culture, on Colorado's Eastern Plains.
“Colorado farmers for decades have been pumping water from the Ogallala Aquifer, which feeds [the Republican and neighboring rivers],” Ryckman said. “The U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled that pumping water from the aquifer was the same as water running down the Republican River.”
Ryckman said the situation on the Republican River is “a preview of what we're going to see all across the West as farmers and cities increasingly are competing for a very limited resource.”
In another story, Denver has spent over $16 million on food, shelter, transportation and staffing in response to migrant arrivals in the city since late last year.
Ryckman shared some of the experiences of the Venezuelan migrants Sun reporters spoke with.
“The migrants told our reporters about their harrowing journey over the course of several months, crossing through jungles, across dangerous rivers, seeing dead bodies," Ryckman said. "Many of them are just grateful to be in a safe place in Denver.”
More than 10,000 migrants have arrived in Denver since December 2022. Daily arrivals increased this month ahead of the expiration of pandemic-era immigration rules.
Last week, Texas state officials sent a chartered bus of migrants to Denver. Mayor Michael Hancock criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, saying he’d “send him the bill.”
