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r..". ~ Christopher Tomlinson The "basin" that would be covered by Ridges Basin Reservoir 'We're moving forward as aggressively as we can~ - BuRec spokeswoman Shannon Cunniff tomers, the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes and the Southwestern Colorado Conservation District, says Animas-La Plata would return Ihe equivalent of $1.66 for every dollar invested. The study takes a broad view of both costs and benefits, including the costs of litigation if the Iribes fail to receive their waler through the project and are forced to go back to court. "This should lay to rest the question of whether Animas-La Plata is economically fea- sible," Campbell told The Denver Post. "Everybody knows that Animas,-La Plata is an economic loscr/ responds Si~rra Club Legal Defense Fund attorney Chris Seldin, "It takes factual and methodological distortion to make this project look good, and that's exactly what they did." Proponents emphasize that building a dam will uphold tribal treaty rights. In 1988, Congress acted to restore senior water rights to the tribe, by offering them Animas-LaPlata water instead, If the project is not at least start- ed by the year 2000, Ihe tribes may void the agreement and return to court, requesting the implementation of their l30-year-old rights which pre-date anyorie else's (HCN, 3/22/93). Most analysts think they could win their claim and possibly gain control of the region's entire water supply. If the project gets built, the tribes may still have to pay for the construction of a water delivery system, pegged at $160 million. Critics, including some tribal members, won- der if the tribes will cnd up with water in a 12 - C> 1996 High Country News reservoir and no pipes to send it anywhere. Phil Ooe, an environmental compliance officer with the Bureau of Reclamation in Denver, isn't afraid to criticize his own agency. Doe says frankly that tribal demands can be met without building a dam he labels "Jurassic pork." The simplest solution, he says, is to force the "hobby hay farmers" in the region to use less water and ,pay more for the privilege. Currently, these ranchette owners don't pro- duce significant crops, but do use cheap water that ought to belong to the Utes. "They don't w~nt to sit down and system- atically analyze probable costs," says Doe of his agency's top officials. "The Utes should get the water first and foremost, but this (project) is a developer's dream., The Bureau of Reclamation seems to be the handmaiden of development interests." Others continue to pressure BuRec to look at alternatives. William Yellowtail, the region- al administrator of the EPA, advised the Bureau in a letter last February that its ElS must be revised to include "a comprehensive and contemporary examin~tion of alternatives" to the proposed dam and pipeline system. Some tribal members, calling themselves the Southern Ute Grassroots Group, have also called for a study of non-structural alternatives 'to daminingthe A~imaS,")Vhich has cul.tural "and spiritual value to many tribal members. And the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund has hired water engineers to help the tribes look for alternatives. But the agency has given no indication that it wants to change course. "We're moving forward as aggressively as we can," says BuRec spokeswoman Shannon Cunniff, who is based in WaShington, D.C. Before the Bureau can release its final EIS late this year, however, it must address a law- suit brought by the Defense "Fund which alleges that endangered fish downstream of the project area will be affected by the lowered water. All parties involved expect future litiga- tion when the ElS is finally released. Meanwhile, the Clinton administration has asked for $5 milli,on from Congress to begin construction during the '1996 fiscal year. For more information, contact 'the Bureau of Reclamation, P.O. Box 11568, Salt Lake City, UT 84147 (801/524-6477). . >i