On Feb. 27 the Herald reported that a settlement was reached in the litigation concerning water rights for the Animas-La Plata Project. As executive director of the Southwestern Water Conservation District, I was deeply involved in the litigation and was interviewed for the story, but I am very concerned that my comments were not correctly reported.
At the end of the story, it stated that I admitted that irrigating the Dryside of the county isn’t economically feasible. The story implies that it will not be done. Nothing could be further from the truth! SWCD has developed several alternatives for irrigating lands in the La Plata River basin (including new lands on the Dryside) through a variety of methods using pipelines, pumps and canals for various cropping patterns and agricultural uses. The district has been, and continues to be, a strong supporter of the region’s agricultural economy and interests, including farmers and ranchers in western La Plata County. We will develop partnerships at the local, state and federal levels and continue to work toward putting our remaining water rights to use in the future – both on the Animas and La Plata rivers.
The economics are not infeasible, and we will pursue our plans to move water to the La Plata River basin and the Dryside as we have committed to do for many decades.
Bruce T. Whitehead
Durango
