Matt Hildner
Daily Press Writer
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The 170-mile stretch of the Dolores River from the base of McPhee Reservoir near Cortez to its confluence with the Colorado River in eastern Utah could see increased development of natural gas and uranium, while anglers and white water enthusiasts work to gain more in-stream flows.
Flying northward up the Dolores on Monday, Mark Pearson, executive director of the Durango-based San Juan Citizens Alliance, said the river offers recreationalists a chance to get further off the beaten path than other parts of the state.
“Disappointment Valley and the river canyon is about as remote as it gets in Colorado anymore,” he said.
Bill Dvorak, who owns a kayaking and rafting outfitter in the Upper Arkansas Valley has a waiting list of customers he keeps handy for when the river has adequate flows for rafting.
He’s even used the river to train guides for his company.
“I would rate the Dolores as one of the three best river trips in the lower 48 (states),” he said. “Outside the Grand Canyon in the lower 48, it’s as long as you can go anywhere.”
The river combines class three and class four whitewater near Dove Creek with the pink and red hues found only in canyon country.
“It’s some of the prettiest red rock in the entire southwest,” Dvorak said.
The isolation of the river basin could decrease, however, as energy development in the region picks up.
San Miguel County has seen an uptick in oil and natural gas production, though much of it has taken place in Dry Creek Basin.
If leases auctioned off by the BLM over the last year come to fruition, oil and gas development could come closer to the river.
At least one lease sold by the BLM sits near the Snaggletooth Citizen’s Wilderness Proposal Area.
The BLM has included no-surface occupancy for portions of those leases to protect recreation and limit visual impacts.
Over the last year, the BLM has also issued leases that skirt the Dolores River Canyon Wilderness Study Area, which sits just to the south of the Paradox Valley in Montrose County.
Pearson, however, thinks the impacts to boaters could be minimized.
“If they actually keep the setbacks behind the rims of the canyons, you probably won’t see too much of an impact there,” he said.
Uranium development, which has taken place in the past at various spots along the river, could return depending on the fate of a proposal by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The DOE is currently evaluating a proposal that would allow mining on up to three tracts near Slick Rock in southwestern San Miguel County.
The DOE withdrew a fourth tract from the proposal out of consideration for the river.
Should uranium mining resume on the tracts, the DOE would require quarter-mile buffers between the river and the nearest activity.
But those provisions were not enough for the San Miguel County Commissioners. Their comments on the proposal submitted to the DOE in August called for a moratorium on future activity.
“We believe the tracts along the Dolores River corridor, not already active, should be withdrawn from minerals development as their long term contribution to the local economy in their undeveloped character is far more valuable than any short term benefit that uranium mining might yield,” the submission stated.
Just as significant for the river as any mineral development has been the construction of McPhee Reservoir near Cortez.
The reservoir, completed in 1984, brings irrigation water to 61,000 acres in the southwestern corner of the state.
The delivery of that water takes priority over the release of water downstream for recreational purposes like rafting. The current operation of the reservoir allows enough water for boating only when there’s “spill” from the spring runoff.
Now the river’s flows below the reservoir come in under 100 cubic feet per second, but during runnoff, floating a 14-foot raft down the river would require at least eight times that amount.
During the drought that has plagued the region for most of the decade, 2005 was the only year with enough flow to support rafting on the Dolores.
In 2003 a coalition composed of environmental and community groups and management agencies formed the Dolores River Coalition to discuss the management of the river, including recreation flows and habitat for the river’s fishery.
Pearson hopes that work can bring a more predictable flow to the river.
Although the Dolores is being studied by the federal government for protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Pearson believes securing that designation could be an uphill battle.
“Wild and scenic (designation) brings with it a lot of concerns about water management and federal reserve water rights,” he said.
Instead, Pearson thinks some form of land-use protection for the river valley might be easier to secure. That could take the form of wilderness designation or, as is currently the case for the Gunnison Gorge near Montrose, as a National Conservation Area.
Contact Matt Hildner via e-mail at matth@montrosepress.com
Kaitlyn Heichel wrote on Nov 3, 2009 2:01 PM:
Sarah Bond wrote on Jul 13, 2009 5:31 PM: