ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
Plans for a 1,136-acre biodynamic farm and agritourism destination go in front of the Garfield County Planning Commission at 6 p.m. today, bringing a community debate over water plans and more to a public discussion for the first time.
Nutrient Holdings LLC is seeking a Planned Unit Development for its property between New Castle and Glenwood Springs, just off of Interstate 70 and the Colorado River. PUDs allow flexibility in developing land in specific zone districts.
Andy Bruno, owner of Nutrient Holdings and the Nutrient Farm storefront in New Castle, wants to build an “agricultural mixed-use community revolving around a biodynamic working farm” on the land, situated between the Colorado River and the Grand Hogback.
Garfield County Assessor’s records show that Nutrient Holdings bought the property, comprising four parcels, in 2018 for $3.5 million. Nutrient Holdings utilizes the land now for grazing, which they said in the application is in line with historic use.
Plans for the property include two farm areas (one for hay/livestock, one for fruits/vegetables/herbs), three residential areas, a residential/solar energy area, a recreational/entertainment area and a commercial/industrial area.
There is one farmhouse already on the property but the application calls for 18 residential lots built out in the residential areas. The application also acknowledges the need for employee housing, but those potential impacts were not included in the traffic or water studies, according to the applicant.
Plans for the rest of the property illustrate plans for an agritourism destination: you-pick orchards, corn mazes, hay rides, restaurant, greenhouse, farm store, agricultural processing buildings, tours, solar energy systems and a restaurant are all listed in the application.
On-site activity plans go even further, with plans for commercial industrial areas of the property for outdoor recreational activities, a music/entertainment area, campground, lodging facilities, a “Motor Sports Center” and a health and wellness retreat.
“Nutrient Farm will be a predominantly self-contained community that provides its own food, infrastructure, and energy facilities as much as possible,” the project narrative states.
The application states that the build-out of Nutrient Farm would take place in three phases over about nine years, with the farm activities coming first. Additional permitting and parameters around impacts like noise would be required for many proposed uses.
A large share of referral feedback and public comment included in the land use application file centers around Nutrient Farm’s water supply — specifically, their plan to divert from Canyon Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River just across the valley, via the Vulcan Ditch.
Glenwood Springs civil engineering firm SGM prepared a water adequacy report for proposed development for the Nutrient Farm application in September 2020.
The report states that the majority of the development will be served by the Vulcan Ditch from its headgate up Canyon Creek for indoor and outdoor water needs, with one new well to be drilled for indoor supply at one area.
A table in the report states that the Vulcan Ditch will provide nearly all of the farm’s annual consumptive use at 391.7 acre feet per year.
While the farm owns the right to 393 acre feet of consumptive use in the Vulcan Ditch (acquired in the purchase of the property), that water can be taken from either Vulcan Ditch headgate or the Coal Ridge Pump and Pipeline off of the Colorado River, according to SGM’s report.
The report states that potable water from either source would need processing, but smaller tributary water is often preferred for diversion as it is of higher quality with less sediment.
“SGM's streamflow analysis suggests that the physical and legal availability from Canyon Creek is sufficient,” the report concludes.
Sonja Linman is a Canyon Creek Road resident and organizer with the Friends of Canyon Creek group. They’re a group of neighbors and community members specifically concerned with the reactivation of Vulcan Ditch and its impact on the creek, which they say cannot handle such demand and has only carried a very small amount of water to a neighbor in the summer for decades — under the new plan, Vulcan Ditch would consist of a 24-inch and 18-inch fused pipeline with a 3-inch minimum cover.
“Our concern is that they move off of Canyon Creek so we don't have fires, so we don't have a destruction of our river bed, so that we don't have lasting, irreparable damage to people's property and to the fire mitigation and our ability to live protectively for all of the animals and the fish and the creatures that live up Canyon Creek,” Linman said. “That's our line in the sand.”
Linman said that having a healthy flow in Canyon Creek contributed to protecting the community from the Storm King, New Castle and Grizzly Creek Fires, which all blazed the surrounding areas. Rock slides and a blowout led to the Vulcan Ditch’s reduced capacity and why she and others say its unsuitable for the amount of water Nutrient Farm wants to divert, she said.
“We all would love to have a healthy, organic farm-to-table farm over there. Oh my gosh, we’d get on our bikes to go over there, but we have been unable to build relationships,” Linman said. “We've been unable to say, ‘Hey, how about if you invite the community in to help you be successful with something that sounds fabulous, because what we're learning isn't so fabulous.’”
Referral agencies, including the Colorado Department of Water Resources, commented that the dry season water availability could pose a challenge for the Vulcan Ditch — particularly late irrigation season in dry years.
Aspen Valley Land Trust holds 12 conservation easements across properties in Canyon Creek. Three of those properties are in the proposed Vulcan Ditch line, posing a hurdle for legal access for the new ditch.
“The Applicant’s proposal includes water diversions that would, as proposed, fully dry and dewater the Canyon Creek at certain times of the year,” AVLT wrote in their comment letter. “Not only would this have a devastating impact on the ecology of Canyon Creek itself, it would also have extreme, irreversible, and likely impermissible impacts to the Conservation Values protected by AVLT’s Conservation Easements.”
Three cases involving Nutrient Farm are pending in District Court Water Division 5. Nutrient Holdings filed an application for change of water rights, alternate point of diversion, on Sept. 11, 2024. The other two are applications for finding of reasonable diligence, filed March 2025.
“Nutrient Holdings requests that it be authorized to use the Nutrient Farm Pump Intake as an alternate point of diversion for the: (1) Coal Ridge Pump and Pipeline; (2) Coal Ridge Reservoir; and (3) Vulcan Ditch water right.”
The alternate point of diversion is on the opposite side of I-70 as Canyon Creek. Linman and other Canyon Creek residents hired JVAM Law to oppose Nutrient Farm’s positions.
The State and Division Engineers asked that multiple issues be addressed prior to granting any alternate points of diversion in a Dec. 24, 2024 summary of consultation.
In response to concerns about the demand on Canyon Creek, Nutrient Holdings emphasized that they will not exercise their full right at all times.
“While Nutrient Farm has the legal ability to divert the full 8.93 cubic square feet at any given time, it will not be diverting that full rate at all times, and in fact cannot divert at a constant 8.93 cfs due to the decree limitations,” they wrote.
Bruno said in an email that it is true that potable water from either the Colorado River or Canyon Creek via the Vulcan Ditch would require treatment, but the bulk of their water use can remain non-potable for irrigation purposes.
“To produce the cleanest food possible, we must start with the cleanest water available,” he wrote.
County staff included 53 suggested conditions for approval in their report ahead of the meeting, ranging from tightening on-site wastewater treatment systems to prevent leaching, wildlife protections with seasonal closures and the addition of a pedestrian/bike path connecting the site to New Castle.
One condition appears to echo community concerns over Canyon Creek, though it does not entirely block the applicant from pursuing the Vulcan Ditch headgate diversion plan.
“Use of water for PUD uses other than irrigation purposes that utilize points of diversion on Canyon Creek shall require approval through an amended PUD process including additional Water Supply Plan Analysis, further documentation of legal water rights, and assessment of impacts on stream flows in Canyon Creek. It is recommended that said analysis include a collaborative stream management plan in conjunction with other water rights holders on Canyon Creek.”
The Planning Commission can accept, amend or reject any condition suggested by staff. It will consider the PUD application, along with two other revocation and amendment PUD applications tied into the Nutrient Farm PUD, at 6 p.m. at the Garfield County Administrative Building, 108 8th Street, Room 100.