Colorado Enacts HB 26‑1340 to Address Long‑Standing Dry‑Up Impacts in the Lower Arkansas River Basin

Colorado’s passage of House Bill 26-1340 marks a significant shift in how the state manages the land-use consequences of permanent agricultural dry-up. The bill, which was signed by Governor Jared Polis on June 1, 2026, requires revegetation or conversion to dry-land farming for any permanent removal of irrigation water in the Lower Arkansas River Basin (“Lower Arkansas”). While the concept of revegetation is not new, HB 26-1340 is the first time Colorado has established basin-wide standards and tied them directly to water court decrees.

The bill responds to decades of concern over “buy-and-dry,” the practice in which municipalities or other entities acquire agricultural water rights and transfer them to new uses, leaving formerly irrigated lands exposed, weedy, or barren. The Lower Arkansas has experienced these impacts more acutely than any other basin in the state.