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<br />Durango
<br />not ready
<br />to tap deal
<br />Water-rights claims:
<br />hold up A-LP decisio~
<br />By Electa Draper
<br />Oenver Posl Four Comers Bureau
<br />Although the city of Durango ;sup.
<br />ports the proposed Anim8s.~a Plata
<br />Project, officials w~'t comnut, ~tak.
<br />ing any water from II : ;.
<br />Preliminary cost estimates in~ate
<br />it might be cheaper for !be city 10 .udd
<br />its own reser- :' :'
<br />voir up Ho.... DURANdo
<br />Gulch rather '.,
<br />than partici- :i .
<br />pate in A-LP, said Durango P~bhc
<br />Works Director Jack Rogers. But:tbat
<br />doesn't mean the city doesn't w~ the
<br />ro . 00, Rogen said. ':
<br />p ,,~ city's position is that we: ,will
<br />continue to support the proj~ if i~ se~-
<br />ties Indian water-rights clalms..If It
<br />does that then it benefits Duranga)' be
<br />said. "But (Bureau of Reclamatiq~:pffi-
<br />clals) haven't given us a price flJ the
<br />ater" ~,..
<br />W Rogers estimated that the ripital
<br />costs for the city to tap into the.-"'atest,
<br />scaled-down version of A-LP could be
<br />~Iease see COST;;' on 78
<br />
<br />Monday, April 3, 2000
<br />
<br />Decision
<br />. decides
<br />. growth
<br />
<br />. 905T5 from Page 46
<br />. as high as $8 million, while bwld-
<br />ing a reservoir at Horse Gulch east
<br />of town would cost $7 million.
<br />., '''But we need to see the project
<br />built and Indian water claims sat-
<br />isfied," Rogers said.
<br />, .'The reason, he said, is that the
<br />. Colorado Ute tribes have water
<br />rights on the Animas River dating
<br />back to 1868, according to a water
<br />court decree. Durango has a 1936
<br />priority date on the river. ~e
<br />..Ute city's principal water supply 18
<br />..kDm the Florida River and Lemon
<br />- Reservoir, Durango periodically
<br />.must augment that supply with
<br />Animas River water.
<br />. The Animas-La Plata Project,
<br />w.hich includes plans for a 120,000-
<br />. pqe-foot reservoir in Ridges Basin
<br />a few miles south of Durango, was
<br />the cornerstone of a 1986 water-
<br />': fights settlement between the two
<br />Ute tribes and non-Indian govern- .
<br />.ments, including the region1s water
<br />. districts, the states of Colorado and
<br />'New Mexico and the federal gov.
<br />ernment.
<br />. - -If A-LP is Scratched, the tribes
<br />, can choose at the end of this year
<br />: to renegotiate the settlement or
<br />. SUe for their water rights on the
<br />. Ariimas and La Plata rivers. Rog-
<br />: er~ and other city officials are
<br />. afraid that without a new water-
<br />: .stQrage project, the tribes' senior
<br />, ~ater rights could dry up the city's
<br />.'ibare of Animas River, along with
<br />: ~r holders of junior rights.
<br />: ~':.Durango provides water for
<br />14,000 residents and almost 6,000
<br />people living in outlying areas. The
<br />:, city plans to grow to serve 40,000
<br />people and will need more water
<br />:' from somewhere, Rogers said.
<br />. A-LP. if built, will create a wa-
<br />. ter supply of about 110.000 acre-
<br />: feet a year, which project oppo-
<br />nents say could bring as many as .
<br />. 290,000 to 300,000 more people into ,
<br />: the region.
<br />. "If all they did was move here
<br />and take showers, that's probably
<br />right," Rogers said. However, he
<br />added, water use in urban settings
<br />is higher than the typically quoted
<br />statistic: "A family of four uses
<br />about 1 acre-foot a year." Com-
<br />mercial and industrial uses, from
<br />gW courses to power plants, would
<br />tie up a large percentage of the A-
<br />lJ> supply, he said.
<br />Many A-LP critics, such as Tax-.
<br />payers for the Animas River, have
<br />said that they fear A-LP will open
<br />the population floodgates and, as
<br />one said, "enrich greedy develop-
<br />ers at the taxpayers' expense."
<br />"Growth will come anyway,"
<br />said Southern Ute water attorney
<br />Scott McElroy of Denver. "Without
<br />A~LP, developers will strip water
<br />from agriculture . .. and open
<br />space will be lost, not gained."
<br />Farmers and ranchers, who have
<br />no allocation under the version of
<br />A.LP favored by the Department
<br />of Interior, say that environmen-
<br />talists' hatred of A-LP is short-
<br />sighted. "Now there's enough wa-
<br />
<br />If,., f"\.",,~,.. Po,,-i"
<br />
<br />Price too high
<br />The city of Durango supportS the
<br />Animas-La Plata Project because It
<br />will end a waler-rights dispute with two
<br />Indian tribes, bul the city probably
<br />would not buy any water from the
<br />prOject's reservoir in nearby Ridges
<br />BaSin. It would be too expenSIve,
<br />acoonJingtoolliciaJs,and1heCily~
<br />instead opt to build Its own rEtsel\'Olr.
<br />
<br />
<br />,
<br />.
<br />(
<br />,
<br />
<br />tet to grow condos but not crops,"
<br />said Hesperus-area rancher Davin
<br />Montoya, .
<br />The 'bureau's latest enVll"OllDJen-
<br />tal study of the Animas-La Plata
<br />Project is available for public re-
<br />view. Written comments will be
<br />accepted through April 17. For l
<br />more information, or to obtain B
<br />copy of the document, call the U.s,
<br />Bureau of Reclamation, Four Cor-
<br />ners Division, (970) 385-6558 or
<br />385-6500.
<br />
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