The Dolores Water Conservancy District has received resolutions in support of DWCD Ballot Issue 4A from five other community level governing boards including: the Dolores Fire Protection District, the Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company, the City of Cortez, Dolores County, and the Town of Dove Creek.
Ballot Issue 4A would authorize the Dolores Water Conservancy District, which operates McPhee Reservoir and the Dolores Project, to fix its operating levy at 0.483 mills. The resolutions specifically point to the economic benefits and stability created by the Dolores Project and McPhee Reservoir, and urge voters and shareholders to vote “yes” on 4A.
DWCD is spending more resources, and tapping reserve funds, to protect Dolores water rights from court challenges, and changes in state and federal planning and regulation. DWCD is also faced with other threats to McPhee Reservoir such as preventing a destructive mussel invasion and being well prepared for emergencies such as a catastrophic wildfire or toxic spills. Managing community water supplies, given the ongoing drought cycle, has required DWCD to undertake in-depth drought planning to reduce the negative effects on all McPhee water users during water short periods.
DWCD manages the water assets of the Dolores Project by assuring that surface water from the Dolores River and stored in McPhee Reservoir is delivered in a reliable and secure manner to Cortez, Dove Creek, Rico, Towaoc, over a thousand Montezuma Valley Irrigation shareholders, the full service farmers from Yellow Jacket to Dove Creek, as well as the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Farm.
The resolutions of support for Issue 4A recognize that “the agricultural economy fostered by the Dolores Project provides an invaluable foundation to the health of local communities while bolstering the commercial sectors that are critical to our economic lifeblood.”
Retaining revenue from a stable 0.483 mill levy will support a financially stable administrative structure to protect McPhee Reservoir, and related delivery facilities and water rights as critical assets for the future prosperity of our community.
Walter Henes
Pleasant View