As County commissioners from Montezuma and La Plata counties with multigenerational histories in the Dolores River Basin, we have spent nearly two decades working together to address the complex challenges facing the Dolores River.
We have worked hard to arrive at a solution that benefits everyone who loves the river, from the farmers who depend on it to grow our food to those who simply want to enjoy its magnificent red-rock canyon walls. On the Dolores River, we speak with one voice: Congressman Jeff Hurd, we need you to introduce the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area legislation in the U.S. House without further delay.
In June and again in early December, five Southwest Colorado counties – Montezuma, La Plata, Dolores, San Miguel and Archuleta – signed bipartisan letters urging you to introduce the Dolores bill as soon as possible. We have repeatedly asked you to represent us on this critical issue and to express why this bill reflects local priorities, respects local needs and balances major uses of the Dolores River.
We emphasized that this bill was crafted here, on the Western Slope, through over a decade of deep collaboration among water users, ranchers, agricultural producers, tribes, off-roaders, conservation groups, boaters and other recreationists; public land managers; energy companies; and mining interests. Numerous stakeholder meetings – over 100 – we both participated in over the years, shaped this legislation. The high degree of consensus embodied in this bill is exceedingly rare in today’s political climate. Enacting it protects the region from top-down proposals such as a national monument designation.
The bill protects water rights and McPhee Reservoir operations; preserves grazing and agriculture; respects private property; safeguards Ute Mountain Ute Tribe water settlements; preserves valid existing mining rights and DOE uranium leases; maintains access for recreationists; and protects the iconic red-rock canyon of the Dolores River corridor. It offers a locally crafted alternative to a federal Wild and Scenic designation – an option many local agricultural stakeholders have grave concerns about. The bill provides a path forward to proactively manage native fish in the Dolores River to help avoid the need for the use of the Endangered Species Act, an outcome that could imperil every water user and the hundreds of farmers and residential water users who depend on the Dolores River.
Removing Federal Wild and Scenic candidacy from consideration was key to bringing all the parties to the table. In exchange for releasing Wild and Scenic designation possibilities, conservation partners agreed to an NCA that protects the values of the Dolores River without threatening water rights. This local solution and balanced approach have earned the support of five counties, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Southwestern Water Conservation District, conservation organizations, ranchers, hunting and fishing groups, and the Western Small Miners Association.
Unfortunately, this year new opposition arose not from our region but from a Denver-based mining association that will not have to live here with the consequences of inaction. Its argument – that any and all land with any mineral potential should remain permanently open to development – is out of step with the needs of Western Slope communities who live here and is in direct conflict with years of local consensus-building.
We reviewed mineral resources along the Dolores River and strongly support mining where it makes sense, but it doesn’t everywhere. In short, we compromised between two valid perspectives, and Washington, D.C., could learn from our example. Western Slope land-use decisions should be made here – not dictated by a Denver lobbying organization that assumes it can undermine our agreement. Congressman Hurd, we ask you to represent us – our counties, residents and leaders – not to cater to distant Front Range organizations that represent only one perspective.
The Dolores River legislation stands as one of the most extensive and inclusive collaborative efforts in Colorado’s public lands history. Its bipartisan support in Washington, D.C., is already proven. In recent years, both Colorado’s Democratic senators and all three Republican House members have supported the legislation, bringing it close to final passage. They understood that when so many people stand united, elected federal officials should stand with them.
The path forward is clear, Rep. Hurd, and it is overdue: You should introduce the Dolores River NCA bill in the House. We ask that you do what Colorado senators did: Introduce the bill as written here in Colorado, not as Denver lobbyists want it. Without your timely action, we risk seeing this agreement fade, and we will all miss the opportunity to advance a bill that Congress could prioritize in the months ahead because of its bipartisan support. The Senate is already moving forward to advance bills that passed during the last Congress with bipartisan support, and we are starting to be left behind. Inaction will inevitably lead to future decisions being made without this level of local input. Our counties, our communities and our river deserve better than more delay. Rep. Hurd, it’s time to heed the bipartisan call of Southwest Colorado and represent us.
Gerald Koppenhafer is a Montezuma County commissioner, board chair of Montezuma Valley Irrigation Co., a board member of Southwestern Water Conservation District and a large-animal veterinarian.
Marsha Porter-Norton was raised in the Dolores River basin, facilitated the Dolores River NCA discussions and is a La Plata County commissioner.
