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_m e \ . :- {'-'" ,. .-' . . . Iff', (199(1': , M,I\YNC . LAW;: DURl\r al Serving the San Juan Basin Farmington, New Mexico Q'ur Land Inc.'accepts .' . . - ' bAnimas-La Plata vote .~,' Bill Papich, Staff writer" Our Land Inc., a group which has opposed the AnImas-La. Plata Pro- I ject. today announced tt accepts the will of San Juan County voters in approving the project. MalI-in ballots for the Animas-La. Plata: referendum counted Tuesday showed a wide margin of support for the project. Evert Oldham, spokesman for Our Land, released a prepared state- ment today, stating that "we wtll not Interfere wtth the will of the voters." The statement said, however, that , members of Our Land "are seriously concerned" about some terms of the "repayment contract for the project. The statement listed several rec- ommendations for changes to the re- payment contract. The recommendations are: ,. , . San Juan County should have pennanentstorage rights for water. ' . The repayment obllgatlon I should not be a "general obligation" , because the wording places the lax base of the community at risk. The obligation should be specific. . An article should be added to the 'contract specifying that San Juan County has no obligation for ,\ Andy Porter staff photo Our Land Inc. member Pete Krivokapich (left) listens while spokesman Evert Oldham speaks to reporters at the Civic Center today. " ' construction costs of p~ II of the project. The group also recommends that the joint powers agreement be amended by Ide!ltlfying and specify- Ing sources for 100 percent of the community's share of financing for the project. ' "Future problems relating to funding shortages can be avoided by providing for all of the fundlnl( now,". the statement said. It also said the source of funding should not be from a property tax, but from a gross re- ceipts tax, so the cost can be dis- tributed more equally. The statement said the ,County Commtsslon should honor tts promise to "aggressively pursue ob- taining local control over our project water." It noted that Colorado's pro- ject water Is not controlled by the Bureau of Reclamation. "Our Land Inc. will not be enter- Ing Into or sponsoring anyone In the lawsuit filed by the San Juan Water Commission," the statement said. "We encourage anyone having an Interest In Animas RIver water or concerns about the cost inlpacts of the project to enter Into the suit and demand that your Interests are protected." Oldham said Our Land spent about $3,000 campaigning against the water project. The Bureau of Reclamation had planned to start building the water project on May 5, but construction has been delayed pending the out- come 'of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife SelVlce study to detennlne If the pro- Ject will affect squawflsh. --..........;..---- --,..--tt--_u~._--- --- .' "'oj' r" -. .....-...