A Facebook page is promoting a protest at Lake Nighthorse Saturday, but it’s unclear who is behind the page and if people will show up.
The page said the goal of “Occupy Nighthorse” is to have Lake Nighthorse open to recreational use by residents. It has 692 likes, but no names of organizers or members. The Durango Herald contacted a few commenters on the Web page, but they said they weren’t planning to take part in the protest set for 1 p.m. Saturday. Three messages from the Herald to the page creator received no response.
Lake Nighthorse is a reservoir with 1,500 surface acres created in Ridges Basin southwest of downtown Durango by the Bureau of Reclamation to provide water for Native American tribes, cities and water districts in Colorado and New Mexico. The reservoir was filled in June 2011, but the parties involved, after years of talks, have yet to agree on major issues to open the area for recreational uses.
The stakeholders include the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Navajo Nation, the Animas-La Plata Conservancy District, the state of Colorado, the San Juan Water Commission and La Plata Conservancy District. The entities formed the Animas-La Plata Operation, Maintenance and Replacement Association in 2009.
The lake is closed, and if people go on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation land, they would be trespassing. Several calls to the federal agency received no response.
An anonymous message on the Facebook page said a public meeting held June 18 in Durango by the bureau to update people about getting recreational access to Lake Nighthorse was a “complete sham.” It also encouraged residents to go to the lake “in droves” to make the statement that tax dollars are being wasted and the federal agency is doing little to open the lake.
The lake and surrounding land will remain off-limits until there is a recreation manager and basic capital improvements are done, Bureau of Reclamation officials have said. The parties also are working on a draft recreation lease agreement, an annexation agreement and a planning agreement.
smueller@durangoherald.com
