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<br />page 4A I ne-pueDIO-Q1IerUiin;VlieDI01 COIG", n..e.day~ JJlnuarj 25,-2000- ---- <br /> <br />m;be .'Jueblo <br />~bitftain <br /> <br />FRI'NK S. HOAG. Gene",1 Manager..Publlisher. Presidont-19D4.1963 <br />;FRANK S. HOAG, JR.. Chairman, Publisher, President-1931-1989 <br />ROBERT H. RAWLINGS, Pubiisher and Ednor <br /> <br />New hope for A-LP <br /> <br />T. HIS YEAR'S session of Congress may be the best <br />: time to get a start on the Animas-La Plata water <br />, project, long delayed by environmentalisl~' stalling <br />taedes. <br />Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has annollllced his full <br />support of the project in its most recent incarnation. Fur- <br />thermore, there are indications it now has solid White <br />House backing. <br />Under the latest plan, supported by 3rd District Rep. <br />Scott McInnis, there would be off-stream water storage to <br />supply the Ute Mountain Utes and the Southern Utes the <br />. water that legally is theirs. The storage facility would be <br />large enough to hold a permanent pool, meaning it would <br />also provide recreational opportunities. <br />TIle original A-LP project was proposed 30 years ago to <br />satisfy wafer rights dating back a century that are owned <br />by the Ute Mountain Utes, Southern Utes. and the Nava- <br />jos. Twelve years ago, Congress approved a $70U million <br />plan. . <br />Then came the lawsuits filed by assorted environmental <br />. gro~ps. claiming that the project would "endanger" some <br />species of trash fish - species that are found elsewhere in <br />the West. <br />Ironically, the storage facility also could help maintain <br />minimum stream flows, aiding those federally designated <br />endangered fish species that the environmental groups <br />claim to be so worried about. And the plan would avoid a <br />lawsuit by the tribes, which have held out that possibility <br />a.~ ahargaining chip. <br />The original project would have provided water not <br />only to the tribes but to area agricultural interests. But, in <br />order to get the project done, last year the Animas-La <br />Plata Water Conservancy District threw iLs support oeh.ind <br />the latest version. even though it would not benefit the <br />con~ervancy district's agricultural clients themselves. . <br />H:istoriealIy, the two Ute tribes in particular have been <br />treated shabbily by the U.S. government as it repeatedly <br />shrook their lands. Now this project would provide them <br />wi~ the water they need to make their economies viahle <br />on land that nobody else wants. <br />Since the administration has sided with the tribes this <br />go-round and the Conservancy District has given its ble.ss- <br />ings, Congress ought to approve the revised project. Oth- <br />erwise, more delays will just make matters worse. <br />