ALP 6

1-,
November 19, 2012
Ed Warner
2764 Compass Dr. Ste. 106
Grand Junction, CO 81506
Re: Potential Annexation of Lake Nighthorse by the City of Durango
Dear Mr. Warner:
Thank you for meeting with representatives of the San Juan Water
Commission and our legal counsel last week in Farmington. It was a good start
to the consultation process that is needed with the Commission as a contractor to
the ALP Project. As we discussed, we have serious concerns about the
proposed annexation of Lake Nighthorse by the City of Durango.
The main concern is that City annexation could hamper the operations of
the reservoir as a drinking water supply, its primary use. For example, if City
regulations and ordinances apply, they could dictate the methods the ALP OM &R
Association (the "Association ") uses to control weeds, as we discussed. One
potential way to ameliorate this problem would be to incorporate into the City's
agreement for Lake Nighthorse the federal exemption language that appears in
the draft annexation agreement between Durango and the Animas -La Plata
Water Conservancy District. That provision, found at Section II.A.4 of the draft
that Barry Longwell provided on November 5, 2012, states that Reclamation, "in
its sole discretion, [can] make reasonable safety and security decisions
associated with its operation of the Animas -La Plata Pump Station" despite City
ordinances or other terms in the annexation agreement. This is the sort of
protection that the Association would need for the Commission to consider
agreement with the idea of annexation.
A similar concern of the Commission is that because demand for water
from the reservoir may take many years to develop, recreation interests could
become so entrenched that they try to stop drawing down the reservoir to a very
low level if needed to supply drinking water in times of drought. It is possible that
drawing down the reservoir to a low level could impair recreation, but if it's
needed to provide water to the Commission and others, the loss of recreation
cannot be used to stop such a drawdown. Consequently, any annexation
agreement with the City must contain significant protection for the Association to
use the reservoir as it was intended, no matter what the recreation
consequences might be. Having seen similar conflicts in New Mexico, we are