Larimer pays $8.4 million for farm, water rights

Larimer County now officially owns the 211-acre Malchow farm south of Berthoud and its associated water rights — a unique agreement that includes a water sharing component.  The $8.4 million sale from the Malchow family to the Department of Natural Resources closed Monday.  The county bought the property to conserve its agricultural, historic and scenic values and plans to continue leasing the fields as an active farm. One unique aspect of the sale was that the county also bought the water rights, including 240 units of Colorado-Big Thompson water, with the intention of entering into a water sharing agreement. Under such an agreement, the farm may vary its crops over several years, so in drought years, some of the irrigation water can be sold.  This allows the farm to stay in production for the long-term and is an arrangement encouraged by the Colorado Water Plan.