Most of us have experienced the feeling of déjà vu – literally, “already seen.” We know, too, that déjà vu often brings with it a distinct feeling of unease.
Both describe our reaction to news that the Southwestern Water Conservation District is considering three proposals to pump Animas River water to Redmesa Reservoir, south of Hesperus. The water could then meet water demands on the Dryside.
Moving Animas water to the La Plata drainage was the original idea behind the Animas-La Plata project. Hence our sense of déjà vu. The decades-long battle to build the present, scaled-down version of A-LP was traumatic and left scars that have yet to heal. Unease over the proposals is understandable.
The frustration of Dryside residents is also understandable. Water for irrigation was an integral part of A-LP as authorized by Congress in 1968. But that was struck from the list when the project was finally built. Lake Nighthorse is now full; the water shimmers below the high ground that stands between it and the Dryside, as if teasing those residents of La Plata County.
“The 700-foot elevation difference is the reason it hasn’t been done,” said water engineer Steve Harris, who is working on the proposals. “And demand (for more water) is the reason it won’t go away.” The completion of Taylor Reservoir on the Dryside, which provides water for irrigation and allows Colorado to meet its La Plata River compact obligations with New Mexico, has helped. But the demand remains. “Taylor Reservoir is an attempt to better use what little water is out there, but we’re still short-changed,” Harris said.
That phrase lies at the heart of the reaction of people surprised by the new proposals. Short-changed by geography? By history? By government at many levels and the political battles over water that form the backbone of our history in the West? As Major Powell noted on his earliest explorations of the Colorado River drainage, there is a lot of promising, fertile land out here. All it lacks is water; the giant water projects of the 20th century were conceived and constructed to try to meet that demand, often with detrimental environmental effects.
The water district should not be surprised at accusations that it is trying a “backdoor route” to fulfilling the original scope of A-LP. Regardless of the scale of the proposals, many believe the Animas River, now that A-LP has been built, is doing enough. Dryside irrigators must do their best with the hand they have been dealt. “As Congress previously determined,” said Jimbo Buickerood of the San Juan Citizens Alliance, “the proposal to pump water uphill to grow hay was not in the public interest. That is still true today.”
Efforts to build a small-scale project to deliver Lake Nighthorse water to meet potable water needs for Dryside communities deserve consideration. But proposals like the largest of the three, which would deliver nearly 300 cubic feet per second at the cost of $430 million, are likely dead in the water.
