by Greg Walcher, E&E Legal Senior Policy Fellow
The Daily Sentinel
Last week, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article about the Palisade peach business, especially how this year’s Colorado River water problems may affect one of the West’s most unique industries. Several friends in D.C. called me about it, surprised that the Post would notice Palisade peaches, much less analyze the future of Colorado’s orchards.
The article left much unsaid, as reporters from mainstream East Coast newsrooms have their own predictable narratives. So, if you expected such a feature story to highlight the charm of an outdated industry, sympathetic to its anachronistic participants who may not survive the era of climate change, you would not be disappointed.
The reporter is a global warming media veteran, according to her published bio, having evolved from reporting on “Earth sciences and the universe” at the Post to being a “climate and science reporter.” She has personally seen Greenland, a Peruvian glacier, and islands in the Indian Ocean, and won several awards. Her writing is excellent and she knows how to weave a compelling yarn. But beyond the expected political spin, this article missed the nuances of the current water dilemma by the proverbial country mile.
There is a certain inherent laziness to such reports, perhaps understandable in reporters from elsewhere with no background in the assigned issue. This reporter spoke at length with Dennis Clark, one of Palisade’s best growers whose deep roots in the valley give him rare insights and in-depth expertise. All she apparently thought worthy of reporting was that he worries about the water shortage. I wasn’t there, but am certain that is but a fraction of the education he tried to give her. She then spoke with the state’s largest fruitgrower, Bruce Talbott, just long enough to get a single quote to use in a photo caption, and to Eric Hergert, who runs the Roller Dam and explained the complexity of the Grand Valley’s water systems. She met a nice lady who told her how tasty fresh peaches are and a river outfitter who laments that there is more water for irrigation than for rafting, never mind the concept of senior water rights.
