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<br />The problems go on. The
<br />federal subsidy roinigation lands
<br />exceeds $7,000 an acre, making
<br />it one of the most ~pensive agrI_
<br />cultural projects in U.S. history.
<br />And because most of the land silS
<br />at 7,000 feet, the shon growing
<br />season will limit farmers to
<br />growing alfalfa, which is already
<br />plentiful in the Four Corners
<br />region.
<br />"However you slice it, it's
<br />an economically senseless pro-
<br />~t," says Drew Caputo, "partic-
<br />ularly in a time of huge federal
<br />deficits and a stubborn reces-
<br />sion."
<br />Booyed by recent successes,
<br />the growing opposition move-
<br />ment is pinpointing other prob-
<br />lems as fast as it can. AlP, they
<br />say, would cause terrible water
<br />quality and salinity problems in
<br />both the Animas and La Plata
<br />rivers; destroy a $3 million raft-
<br />ing industry based in Durango;
<br />steal water from New Mexico
<br />farmers who live downstream on
<br />the Animas River; dewatcc hun-
<br />dreds of acres of wel.l.a.nds; and
<br />eliminate the last viable winter
<br />range for Durango's famous elk
<br />herds. Pinally, there are unan-
<br />swered questions about the endangered
<br />fISh living in the San Juan River down-
<br />stream of the p-oje(:t.
<br />1l1e aUegations are mising eyebrows
<br />around the region, and may have led
<br />New Mexico Rep_ BiU Richardson, D, to
<br />hedge his backing of ALP.
<br />"I have been supportive of it, but I am
<br />alarmed by the growing opposition of my
<br />ronslituents,"Richanlsonrocently Iold the
<br />Farmington Daily Times. "One of the
<br />main issues will be if we can afford it."
<br />The reportS also worry New Jersey
<br />Sen, Bill BmdIey, D, chairmoo of the Sen-
<br />ate subcommittee on water and power,
<br />who recently &Iced the GCflernl Acc.ount-
<br />ingOffICt to reinvestigate theprojcct.
<br />
<br />
<br />To split the coalition
<br />
<br />Nevertheless, opponents concede
<br />they may never have the political
<br />strength to kill Animas-La Plata. In fact,
<br />counter pressure is mounting to get the
<br />project back on track. The politics have
<br />narrowed to one issue: the Ute Indian
<br />water treaty. To take that message to
<br />Wasrnngton, project supporters have a
<br />perfect ally in newly elected Sen. Ben
<br />Nighthorse Campbell, 0.(:010., who is
<br />Northern Cheyenne but makes his home
<br />in Ignacio, the capital of the Southern
<br />Ute reservation.
<br />Campbell, who slrongly backed the
<br />project while in the House, has acted
<br />quicldy, spearheading an effoo last month
<br />along with Sen. Hank Brown, R-Colo.,
<br />and Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., to
<br />stymie the GAO investigation. Campbell
<br />says the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund
<br />offer to find viablealtemativcs 10 Animns-
<br />LaPlara is an attempt to delay the projcct
<br />until itcoUap!lCS from risingco8tS.
<br />"If Animas-La Plata doesn't get
<br />built," Campbell says, "jt will be just
<br />oneofa series of treaties thai the federal
<br />govemmCflt has made with Indi,1ns and
<br />systcmatica1ly broken because of special
<br />interests. They just oppose the Indians
<br />gettingfairtreatmenLH
<br />CampbeU and the ALP coalition
<br />argue that the 1988 Ute Indian Waler
<br />RighlSSettlelllenlAct is just 8S impor-
<br />tant-sociaIly and legally-as the fed-
<br />eralenvironmentallaw$.
<br />"I am surprised that the Southern
<br />Ute Tribe hasn't ordered iLS attorneys to
<br />flgUte out how to sue the Siena Oub for
<br />
<br />CAodCralg.M1al
<br />A barbed portrah of Sam Maynes called "lhe
<br />Blackest Knight" was dbplayed in the Durango Mall
<br />
<br />violating their civil rights," says Maynes.
<br />''They nrecausing the Indians great dam-
<br />age by delaying theproject.H
<br />But project opponents, including
<br />many tribal members, are not backing
<br />ofr. Instead, they have taken a page out
<br />of Sam Maynes' book. Once a rag-tag
<br />group of maybe a dozen volunteer
<br />activiSts, TAR has created a coalition of
<br />regional groups fighting various aspects
<br />of the projecl
<br />The Four Comers Action Coalition
<br />includes rafters, farmers, landowners
<br />along the Animas River, Southern Ute
<br />tribal members, environmentalists and
<br />many omers. At a Janll8l)' meeting at a
<br />tiny schoolhouse on the Animas River in
<br />New Mexico, more than 30 showed up
<br />to plan the coming fight.
<br />Local opponents also established
<br />new links with the Sierra Club Legal
<br />Defense Fund and several other national
<br />groups. Together they hired former Col.
<br />omdo waler engineer Jeris Danielson, a
<br />move calculated to split the ALP cooli-
<br />tion,activistssay.
<br />"My clients are fully committed 10
<br />It"IC(tingtheIndians'aronoo-lndiannecds.,''
<br />says Caputo. "We are trying to come up
<br />with a seukment thlt requires ncithec Ani-
<br />mas-La Plata IKI'further litigation."
<br />Caputo adds that preliminary analy-
<br />sis by Danielson shows there are many
<br />options for the area that don't require
<br />spending hundreds of millions on Ani-
<br />mas-La Plata. Some ideas are:
<br />. Provide more water to the Ute
<br />Mountain Ute reservation from the
<br />Doloresprojecl.
<br />. Supply new watc.t 10 both the Ute
<br />Mountain and Soothem UICS - as weU as
<br />a recrt-ation lake - by building a small
<br />dam OIl the Mancosor La Plata rivers,
<br />. Expand Durango's waler supply
<br />by using excess capacity available from
<br />the nearby Rorida project. and
<br />. Make uisting water go further by
<br />lining irrigation ditches, initiating an
<br />urban water conservation program in
<br />Durango, and buying out willing seUm
<br />of water rights.
<br />The pressure seems to be hitting
<br />home in Durango, John Brown, the man-
<br />ager of the Animas-La P1lUa and South.
<br />western Water Conservancy districts,
<br />resigned in January, saying that with
<br />several years of delays coming his ser-
<br />vices were 00 longer needed.
<br />
<br />Likewise, the city of
<br />Durang(l, in the midst of a pop-
<br />ulation boom, has ordered its
<br />engineers 10 evaluate building a
<br />water pr(lject on the Animas
<br />River. City Manager Robert
<br />Ledger explains that while the
<br />city has always supported ALP,
<br />he doublS its problems will evCl
<br />be worked OUt, let alone in time
<br />to meet the city's growing
<br />.""'.
<br />"For $7 10 $10 million we
<br />could (build our own project)
<br />.and be over with it," Ledger
<br />"says. "Frankly, that's starting 10
<br />look a lot more attractive."
<br />
<br />The Southern Utes
<br />
<br />So far the Indian tribes are
<br />ignoring the new envirornnentaI
<br />coalition. Southern Ute Chair-
<br />man Leonard Burch accuses the
<br />Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund
<br />and other opponents of trying to
<br />delay construction of Animas-
<br />La Plata and to "break the water
<br />treaty,"
<br />In an open letter to tribal
<br />members published in the
<br />Southun U/~ DrW/'l in January,
<br />Burch warned that the only
<br />alternative 10 ALP is years of e;\pensive
<br />litigation, echoing what happened to the
<br />Arapahoe and Shoshone tribes on the
<br />Wind River Reservat,ion.
<br />Burch, who has chaired the tribal
<br />council since 1966 e;\cept for a three_
<br />year hiatus required by law, is a giant
<br />figure on the reservation. Although often
<br />criticized for running the tribal govern-
<br />ment and its coveted network of jobs and
<br />benefits as a fiefdom, Burch has broughl
<br />prosperity to the tribe _ earning the
<br />
<br />Southern Utes the nicJmamc of the "Hol-
<br />lywood Indians" from their Ute Moun-
<br />tainUteneighbors.
<br />Burch, with the help of tribal attor.
<br />ncy Sam Maynes, has built water pro-
<br />jectson the seven streams thaI cross the
<br />reservation and developed oil and gas
<br />reserves. Mostrecently,helaunched
<br />plans for a new gaming operation. From
<br />his office in the tribe's modern head-
<br />quarters building in Ignacio, Burch
<br />explains lhatlhe $20 million in develop-
<br />ment funds and 26,500 acre-feet of water
<br />from the Animas-La Plata settlement
<br />will ensure future prosperity by enabling
<br />the tribe 10 develop ilS coal reserves on
<br />the western edge of the reservation.
<br />But Burch and Animas-La Plata
<br />face a local rebellion. The chief rebel is
<br />Ray Frost, a tall, barrel-chested man
<br />who, after three tries, won a seat on the
<br />tribal council this year. Frost used his
<br />booming voice 10 run a single-issue cam-
<br />paign against Animas-La Plata.
<br />Frost says he. was in faVtt of the pu-
<br />jectat first, but he charges that its benefits
<br />have stcadily eroded. The original agree-
<br />mcrn aUowed the tribes 10 seU (IIease pro-
<br />ject wa1el downstream to cities in Arizona
<br />and California. That would have made
<br />AlPextremcly lucrative for lhetribes,he
<br />JX>ints out, but the clause was deleted as the
<br />settlement bill made its way through
<br />Congress. California JegislatoB, in particu-
<br />lar, opposed the provision.
<br />Second, under the cost-sharing agree-
<br />ment, ALP was broken in two: Phase I,
<br />which will be paid fI:Kwith fcderaldol1ars;
<br />andPhasen, which must be paid for entire-
<br />Iy by locaIwatcr users. While all ofllle Ute
<br />tribes' watet will be stored in'RidgesBasin
<br />Reservoir underPbase I, virluaUy nodeliv-
<br />ery systems wiU.be built to enable either
<br />
<br />continued on rn!xt JMge
<br />
<br />
<br />Southern Ute Tribal Olllinnan Leonard BIrch
<br />
<br />Attorney Sam Maynes says the
<br />Sierra Club is violating the
<br />Southern Ute Tribe's civil rights.
<br />
<br />High Country News - March 22, 1993 - 13
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