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<br />f'
<br />
<br />1993
<br />
<br />Caputo adds that preliminary analysis by
<br />Danielson shows there are many options for
<br />the area that don't require spending hundreds
<br />of millions on Animas- La Plata. Some ideas
<br />are:
<br />. Provide more water to the Ute Mountain
<br />Ute reservation from the Dolores Project,
<br />. Supply new water to both the Ute Mountain
<br />Utes and Southem Utes - as well as a recreation
<br />lake - by building a small dam on the Mancos or
<br />La Plata rivers,
<br />. Expand Durango's water supply by using
<br />excess capacity available from the nearby
<br />Florida Project, and
<br />. Make existing water go further by lining
<br />irrigation ditches, initiating an urban water
<br />conservation program in Durango, and buying
<br />out willing sellers of water rights.
<br />The pressure seems to be hitting home in
<br />Durango. John Brown, the manager of the
<br />Animas-La Plata and Southwestern Water
<br />Conservancy districts, resigned in January,
<br />saying that with several years of delays coming
<br />his services were no longer needed.
<br />Ukewise, the city of Durango, in the midst
<br />of a population boom, bas ordered its engineers to
<br />ClVIIIuate building a water project on the Animas
<br />River. City Manager Robert Ledger explains that
<br />while the city bas always supported A-LP, he
<br />doubts its problems will ever be worked out, let
<br />alone in time to meet the city's growing needs.
<br />"For $7 to $10 million we could (build our
<br />own project) and be over with it," Ledger says.
<br />"Frankly, that's starting to look a lot more
<br />attractive."
<br />
<br />The SOutlt8'n utes
<br />So, far the Indian tribes are ignoring the
<br />new environmental coalition. Southern Ute
<br />Chairman Leonard Burch accuses the Sierra
<br />Qub Legal Defense Fund and other opponents
<br />of trying to delay construction of Animas-La
<br />Plata and to "break the water treaty."
<br />In an open letter to tribal members pub-
<br />lished in the Southern Ute Drum in January,
<br />Burch warned that the only alternative to A-LP
<br />is years of expensive litigation, echoing what
<br />happened to the Arapaho and Shoshone tribes
<br />on ihe Wind River reservation.
<br />Burch, who has chaired the tribal council
<br />since 1966 except for a three-year hiatus
<br />required by law, is a giant figure on the reser-
<br />vation. Although often criticized for running
<br />
<br />the tribal government and its coveted network
<br />of jobs and benefits as a fiefdom, Burch has
<br />brought prosperity to the tribe - earning the
<br />Southern Utes the nickname of the
<br />"Hollywood Indians" from their Ute Mountain
<br />Ute neighbors.
<br />Burch, with the help of tribal attorney Sam
<br />Maynes, has built water projects on the seven
<br />streams that cross the reservation and devel-
<br />oped oil and gas reserves. MoSt recently, he
<br />launched plans for a new gaming operation.
<br />From his office in the tribe's Diodern headquar-
<br />ters building in Ignacio, Burch explains that the
<br />$20 million in development funds and 26,500
<br />acre-feet of water from the Animas-La Plata
<br />settlement will ensure future prosperity by
<br />enabling the tribe to develop its coal reserves
<br />on the western edge of the reservation.
<br />But Burch and Animas-La Plata face a
<br />local rebellion. The chief rebel is Ray Frost, a
<br />tall, barrel-chested man who, after three tries,
<br />won a seat on the tribal council this year. Frost
<br />used his booming voice to run a single-issue
<br />campaign against Animas-La Plata.
<br />Frost says he was in favor of the project at
<br />first, but he charges that its henefits have steadily
<br />eroded. The original agreement allowed the tribes
<br />to sell or lease project water downstream to cities
<br />in Arizona and California. That would have made
<br />A-LP extremely lucrative for the tribes, he points
<br />out, but the clause was deleted as the settlement
<br />bill made its way through Congress. California
<br />legislators, in particular, opposed the provision.
<br />Second, under the cost-sharing agreement,
<br />A-LP was broken in two: Phase I, which will
<br />be paid for with federal dollars; and Phase 11,
<br />which must be paid for entirely by local water
<br />users. While all of the Ute tribes' water will be
<br />stored in Ridges Basin Reservoir under Phase
<br />I, virtually no delivery systems will be built to
<br />enable either trihe to use that water. Of the
<br />65,700 acre-feet of water to be delivered to
<br />farmers in Phase I, only 2,600 acre-feet will
<br />reach Southern Ute farmlands.
<br />The rest of the Southern Ute's water,
<br />26,500 acre-feet of municipal and industrial
<br />supplies, and all of the Ute Mountain Ute's
<br />32,400 acre-feet, will be useless unless Phase
<br />II is built. Frost cites a memo from David
<br />Walker, director of the Colorado Water
<br />Conservation Board, warning that the $154
<br />million Phase II will never get funded.
<br />In short, Frost fears Animas- La Plata
<br />
<br />"Why support
<br />the Animas-la
<br />Plata Project?"
<br />read one
<br />political ad ...
<br />"Because
<br />someone else is
<br />paying most of
<br />the tab. We get
<br />the water. We
<br />get the resavoir
<br />They pay the
<br />bill~
<br />
<br />C 1996 HIgt Country News - 21
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