We at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation would like to provide an update to the community regarding recreation at Lake Nighthorse, as part of the Animas-La Plata Project.
Currently, we are working with all Animas-La Plata Project partners and stakeholders to reach consensus regarding development and management of recreation at Lake Nighthorse. We believe we are nearing an agreement to integrate recreation into the project, while ensuring compatibility with the primary purposes of the project for municipal and industrial water supply.
We are conducting regular meetings with partners and stakeholders to discuss and resolve a broad range of issues concerning water quality, environmental protection, and tribal trust responsibilities of the United States government. Many issues have been resolved and Reclamation continues to work on remaining issues, including working closely with association members to ensure protection of cultural resources and annexation of project lands by the city of Durango for administration of recreation and law enforcement purposes.
Reclamation and the project partners and stakeholders invite the public to attend an informational meeting on Wednesday, June 18, 2014, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Durango Community Recreation Center in Eolus and Sunlight meeting rooms. Reclamation will provide a brief presentation, and the public will be able to ask questions and look at maps and plans about recreation at Lake Nighthorse.
For more information about the Animas - La Plata Project, please visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/animas/index.html, or phone 385-6500, or email wcaoinfo@usbr.gov.
We believe that recreation will become a reality at Lake Nighthorse and we are committed to continuing to work with all stakeholders to achieve results that are responsive to stakeholder concerns and public needs. Our goal is to achieve this kind of consensus as early as 2015.
Ed Warner
Western Colorado Area Manager, Bureau of Reclamation
