The frustration about lack of recreation at Lake Nighthorse was heard loud and clear at the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District meeting in Marvel last week.

Conspicuous by their absence were people who attend board meetings without fail, people who could have supplied some answers. They’re the representatives of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the lake and surrounding land, and the seven-member Operations Maintenance and Replacement Association, or OMRA, which owns the water.

Potential users of the lake and surrounding park land are getting antsy. Anglers, water skiers, watercraft owners, hikers, bikers and equestrians see a shimmering body of water and rolling hills, but they’re off-limits until a recreation manager is hired.

There’s the rub.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife bowed out early, saying it had other priorities and no cash. No one stepped forward, so the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District put up $35,000 in seed money, got $25,000 from the Southwestern Water Conservation District and in-kind assistance from the National Park Service and hired a consultant to draft a recreation master plan.

The city of Durango became interested and began laying plans to manage recreation. Those plans remain on hold until numerous issues are hashed out.

“There are too many moving parts,” Bob Wolff, chairman of the water district board, said at the meeting Wednesday in Marvel. “The city of Durango was moving ahead, but now there are so many demands I think it may not be feasible.”

Lake Nighthorse is a reservoir with 1,500 surface acres created in Ridges Basin southwest of Durango by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to provide potable water for Native-American tribes, cities and water districts in Colorado and New Mexico.

OMRA partners are the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the San Juan Water Commission, the La Plata Conservancy District, the state of Colorado and the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority, which fronted money in anticipation of water purchases by the city of Durango and the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District.

Wolff laid the blame for the unsettled situation on the lack of leadership by the Bureau of Reclamation, which he said has dilly-dallied for two years in picking a recreation manager.

“They don’t want to offend anyone,” Wolff said.

In a June 18 letter to Larry Walkoviak, regional director of the Bureau of Reclamation in Salt Lake City, Wolff said: “The current status of the recreational component at Lake Nighthorse is a disaster.”

Among major unsettled issues:

The city of Durango wants to annex the area to be able to provide police security, but the Utes say annexation is unacceptable.

New Native American cultural artifacts found in the vicinity of the proposed swimming beach will require documentation and preservation.

In a June 19 resolution, the Southern Ute Tribal Council said the Ute tribes must have a central role in recreation decisions; that the state is best able to manage recreation and that the two tribes stand ready to help find funding; and that Utes must be able to exercise Brunot Treaty rights that allow them to hunt on ancestral lands.

In May, Russ Howard, general manager of the OMRA, said the association or one of its members is best qualified to manage recreation, a position disputed by the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District. The district contends that OMRA doesn’t meet the definition of a public government body, which is required to manage recreation. The water district said OMRA was formed as a nonprofit.

The Southern Ute Tribal Council on Friday called for patience in resolving complex issues and recognition of tribal treaty rights.

Lake Nighthorse was created mainly to satisfy Ute water-right claims, a Tribal Council statement said. Recreation was part of the planning, but it was not a specific purpose.

“Everyone’s work has created a critical foundation for continued discussions, but there are important issues to be resolved before moving any further,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, the need to comply with applicable laws is not always well understood by those unfamiliar with these laws.”

The tribe understands community concern and is committed to develop a plan to meet the purpose of the project while trying to meet the desires of others, the Tribal Council said.

In an interview Thursday, Howard said OMRA control of recreation is no longer central to resolving issues.

“It’s one of many issues, many options, in a very complicated, lengthy process,” Howard said. “We’re in a fact-finding position, with some (participants) more impatient than others.”

The goal of everyone is to get recreation open as soon as possible, Howard said.

Randy Kirkpatrick, executive director of the San Juan Water Commission, agrees that issues surrounding recreation are many and varied.

“The association (OMRA) recognizes the need and benefits of recreation,” Kirkpatrick said. “But we don’t want it to interfere (because of potential degradation) with the domestic water supply of the whole region.”

Cathy Metz, the director of recreation for the city of Durango, said parties continue negotiating.

“We understand the Utes are not comfortable with annexation,” Metz said.

But short of annexation, the city would need its police officers deputized to act in an unincorporated area, currently prohibited by state law, Metz said. Cross-deputization with La Plata County Sheriff’s deputies has been explored and will be studied again, she said.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers could possibly patrol the lake for on-water security, but the agency has limited personnel, Metz said.

Tom Brossia, a water conservancy district board member and an alternate delegate to the OMRA, thinks the association would accept Durango as recreation manager but not accept annexation. He said Ute issues, extra-jurisdictional policing and water quality are the sticking points.

Ed Warner from the Bureau of Reclamation in Grand Junction said there are many “hot issues” to resolve.

“The who, what and how, take time,” Warner said. “We’re trying to work with everybody.

“Who is going to be the recreation manager is by no means agreed,” he said. “Our job is to address issues and see who is left standing.”

daler@durangoherald.com