An Unlikely Coalition to Protect Colorado’s Dolores River - Colorado Water Trust

The Dolores River winds north out of Dolores, Colorado, starting in the ponderosa forests at 7,000 feet and meandering its way through red rock layers until it reaches the Colorado River, east of Moab, Utah. But in dry years, there is barely any water in the river.

Most of the water from the Dolores River ends up in Mcphee Reservoir, just outside of the town of Dolores, and is diverted south, to water fields and ranches in Cortez, the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, and Dove Creek, the former of the two are outside of the Dolores River watershed.

Any leftover water by then is in the San Juan River basin, leaving very little for the lower Dolores River.

A Nearly Two-Decade Collaboration

In 2022, legislation for a National Conservation Area (NCA) along the lower Dolores River was first introduced to Congress by Democratic Senator Michael Bennett. The legislation had been in the works since 2008 by a bipartisan group of stakeholders, known as the Lower Dolores Working Group, which included Senator Bennet’s staff members.

“The Lower Dolores Working Group included water districts like Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company and Dolores Water Conservancy District, and… the Ute Mountain Ute tribe and ranchers and motorized recreation folks and conservation folks and private property owners, basically anyone that could be affected by whatever happens with the river corridor,” said Jeff Widen in a Daily Yonder interview, senior regional conservation representative for the Wilderness Society and one of the original members of the working group.

Every stakeholder who was interviewed by the Daily Yonder for this story expressed their support for the current legislation. The common thread was that this bill brought people together, across political lines and social divides. The past fifteen years have been spent in conversation and collaboration to make something that every party supports.

But another common refrain was that this bill is delicate. A few changes could make it all fall apart, said Widen.

The legislation was reintroduced in 2023, with an identical bill being introduced in the House soon after by Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. In July 2023, the bill had a hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Widen hopes that the bill will get a markup, where they make any agreed-upon changes, in November, but “you never actually know until it happens,” said Widen. The House of Representatives bill has not yet had a hearing, due to the just recently resolved lack of a House Speaker.

Protecting the Values and Interests of Everyone Involved

The Lower Dolores Working Group originally started as a Wild and Scenic Suitability study in the mid-2000s. The Dolores River, below Mcphee Dam, was given Wild and Scenic River suitability in 1976 and again in 2013. However, local consensus was against Wild and Scenic designation because the designation comes with a water right, which many farmers and ranchers in the area worried would take their allotments of water away, despite the new water right being far junior to any already established.

The National Conservation Area legislation trades Wild and Scenic suitability for similar protections in the form of a National Conservation Area and a Special Management Area (SMA), without the water right for the river. Management Area (SMA). The SMA would exist on Forest Service-managed land, while the NCA would exist on Bureau of Land Management land.

“I felt like there was a threat from Wild and Scenic,” said Al Heaton, a rancher who runs cattle along the Dolores River and an original member of the Lower Dolores Working Group, “I feel like this legislation, if we can get it through, protects a lot of the things that Wild and Scenic would protect without threatening some of the other values and uses.”

The legislation would create an Advisory Council made up of local stakeholders to provide input to land managers, similar to the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group. This way the NCA and SMA would be managed according to the values and uses of all stakeholders. “The lands belong to everyone. They need to be used respectfully, but they need to be available to all uses,” said Steve Garchar, Dolores County Commissioner.

In June 2023, many of the members of the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group and stakeholders in the future of the Dolores River had the opportunity to float the river. For some, it was the umpteenth time on the river, but this specific trip was an opportunity to introduce Senator Michael Bennet, his staff, and his family to the river they were all fighting to protect. Other attendees included Democratic Senator Hickenlooper, county commissioners from four different counties, representatives from various conservation groups, land managers, and more.

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Taxonomy

• River Studies
• River Basin management
• River Restoration