A bill to designate as a National Conservation Area sections of the Dolores River Canyon area in San Miguel, Dolores and Montezuma counties has drawn bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress.
U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both Democrats representing Colorado, on July 15 introduced the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act.
Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, the Silt Republican representing the 3rd Congressional District, sponsored the House companion bill, HR8601. U.S. Reps. Ken Buck, R-4th Congressional District, and Doug Lamborn, R-5th Congressional District, signed on as cosponsors.
The act would establish 68,851 as an NCA, but would withdraw that same area from consideration for Wild and Scenic River designation. If signed into law, the Dolores River NCA/SMA Act would formalize the bulk of a proposal made in 2015 by the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group, which was convened in 2008 to study the issue.
Although Montrose County was once part of discussions, it withdrew itself, so the proposed legislation would not apply to public lands here.
“This locally driven, bipartisan bill is a public lands compromise put forth by local stakeholders that threads the needle,” Boebert said, in a provided statement. “HR8601 protects the Dolores River Corridor, conserves wildlife, ensures scenic public lands for future generations, while still protecting private water and private property rights.”
Boebert was pleased the bill would preclude Wild and Scenic River designation on the lower Dolores. The Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created in 1968 to protect certain rivers in a free-flowing condition. With that designation comes federal water rights reserved for any unallocated water in the defined river segment. Opponents fear those could be senior to other rights on a river.
An NCA is a federal designation on federal public land that can be tailored for specific management needs; a specific NCA’s requirements are defined by its designating legislation.
An NCA has been proposed on the Dolores River from below McPhee Dam to Bedrock for several years. (McPhee Reservoir, now at critically low levels due to drought, is water storage for Montezuma and Dolores counties, as well as the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, which support the current legislation.)
When the Lower Dolores Plan Working Group was convened in 2008 to study the river, it had already been deemed suited to Wild and Scenic River designation. The group explored the concept of an NCA, appointing a subcommittee to draft a proposal.
According to a fact sheet, in 2015, a proposal was put forward to establish a new NCA, as well as a Special Management Area (SMA) on forest land adjacent and to establish a new wilderness area inside the NCA where there currently is a Wilderness Study Area.
Lands in this proposal included lands in Montrose County, however, since that time and since initially supporting the efforts, Montrose County withdrew from the NCA discussions. Montezuma County had withdrawn as well, but it rejoined this year.
When Montrose County bowed out, lands here were removed from the NCA/SMA legislation, including the proposed wilderness designation (and current Wilderness Study Area), which is entirely in Montrose County. The other provisions in the original proposal are intact in Dolores, San Miguel and Montezuma counties.
Montrose County participated in the discussions for more than a decade and was part of the legislative subcommittee before withdrawing for what County Media Relations Manager Katie Yergensen said were a variety of reasons involving the “very complicated issue.”
The parties had agreed to draft legislation at one point, but then new members joined the working group and discussions restarted, she said.
“At that time, it was not in the best interest of the county to continue participation and staff time,” Yergensen said. “Simply put, the portion in Montrose County that was up for consideration is already a Wilderness Study Area and the bill as it stands has no impact on Montrose County.”
Under the legislation, the Bureau of Land Management would manage the proposed NCA, while the Forest Service would manage the SMA. If the bill passes, the Secretary of the Interior would appoint local stakeholders to an advisory council.
Per the fact sheet, provisions of the plan protect native fish species, however, anything having to do with reservoir recommendations is at the discretion of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Dolores Water Conservancy District, in conformance with applicable laws and regulations.
The proposed bill does not include any requirements for changes in flow regimes or releases from McPhee, nor does it mandate any water to be appropriated to fisheries and whitewater rafting. Water rights decreed by water law and vested water rights “shall not be diminished” by the legislation, which does not express or imply federal reserved or appropriative water rights.
The BuRec is to work with other entities to acquire water from wiling sellers to expand the base pool, or for other fish and wildlife purposes, in a 1996 environmental assessment and the 2000 operating agreement. To date, no willing sellers have stepped forward, the fact sheet says.
Another provision in the bill prohibits new dams and large-scale water developments within the NCA — new large storage and hydroelectric facilities, for example. But existing small diversion dams, stock ponds, new minor developments conforming with existing decreed water rights, or circumstances requiring modification, are not precluded.
The legislation also protects the Ute Mountain Ute tribe’s water rights.
The NCA’s management plan would only apply to public land in the designated area — not to private property — and information from Bennet’s office said it does not affect Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s utility corridor.
Motorized use within the NCA/SMA is to be on designated routes only, and is to be established under the travel management plan of the NCA’s overall management plan. Road requirements do not affect county roads in the designated area.
Also, grazing would continue under existing leases and allotments and minerals can be developed where valid claims and leases are in effect, although new mining claims or mineral leases are disallowed. The legislation will not affect uranium production on Department of Energy leases where it is currently allowed.
“I have worked continuously on this proposal since 2008,” said Al Heaton in a news release from Bennet and Hickenlooper. Heaton is a rancher with land in all three counties within the proposed NCA.
“I believe local participation in the management of the area will provide better benefits for the native fish, scenic area, recreation, permitted federal land uses, private land values and water rights than a wild and scenic designation,” he said.
Katharhynn Heidelberg is the Montrose Daily Press assistant editor and senior writer. Follow her on Twitter, @kathMDP.
This story has been updated online to correctly attribute the information from Montrose County.