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1993 Plata water conservancy districts. Project opponents often criticize Maynes for conflict of interest and for leading the tribes astray, but those charges have never stuck. Instead, Maynes' leadership and influence have kept the A.LP coalition together through setbacks that would have killed other, arguably better, projects. For example, a major crisis occurred when the Reagan administration balked at A.LP's steeply rising price tag and ordered project backers to help pay for the pro. ject. The coalition performed triage on the plans, put up some money, and kept A-LP alive. First, each member, except for the tribes, came up with some money, totalling about $70 million. To meet the rest of their obligations, the coalition split the project in two. The $463 million Phase I, or the bulk of the project, would be federally funded, with the help of the local contributions. The $154 million Phase II, the most marginal part of the project and the easiest to give up, would be funded entirely by local interests if it is ever built. As best it could, the coalition shared the pain. Because the Ute Mountain Utes and Southern Utes had most of their water delivery structures in Phase II, the agreement gives the tribes ownership of water stored in Phase I, even if that makes less water available to non-Indian farmers. The discovery of two endangered fish species downstream of the project created a sec- ond crisis. The Bureau would have ignored the fish, but a letter from the Sierra Gub Legal Defense Fund forced the agency to invoke the Endangered Species Act. That ultimately led to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruling that Animas-La Plata could not be built. The A-LP coalition acted swiftly, putting together a complicated recovery plan for the fish. With the help of then Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan and the Colorado and New Mexico congressional delegations, the coali- tion bullied the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service into delaying its ruling until a seven-year study could be conducted. In addition, the Bureau of Reclamation , promised to provide 300,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Navajo Irrigation Project to replace any water lost to Animas.La Plata during the study period, and, potentially, forever. Finally, the coalition agreed to put off building half of Phase I until after the seven-year study. 'Then, if Fish and Wildlife approved, the rest of the project would be completed. Endurlna. but unbullt In short, the halkentury-long effort to build Animas-La Plata ranks among the most endutillg and well-led political movements in, the history of Western water. That's why Sam Maynes, Leonard Burch and company are stunned to find that Animas- La Plata is suddenly in deep trouble, and may never get built. While there has always been local opposition to A-LP, national environmental groups generally