This kind of news will keep showing up as water scarcity becomes more and more of an issue. I really think Sheep Creek Water Company’s 100 year-old water rights are only going to become more valuable over the next few decades…
Bernal’s family came to the Grand Valley nearly 100 years ago, and he has lived there his whole life.
But now, he has a new neighbor: a New York-based investment firm called Water Asset Management, which he says bought a farm in the valley around 2017 that Bernal now rents and helps operate.
According to public records, the hedge fund — which is headquartered on Madison Avenue in Manhattan — has bought at least $20 million worth of land in Western Colorado in the last five years, making it one of the largest landowners in the Grand Valley.
The hedge fund, founded in 2005, says it invests exclusively in assets and companies that ensure water supply and quality. In 2021, its co-founder and president, Matthew Diserio, called water in the United States “a trillion-dollar market opportunity.”