The Montezuma Valley Irrigation Co. has again tightened control of its water resources, telling the county road department that it will face theft charges if it draws its share of the water from an unapproved site.
For many years, the county road department has had an informal agreement with Montezuma Valley Irrigation Co. to draw county water shares from the company’s various canals and reservoirs for road maintenance.
That deal has apparently ended.
In a letter to Montezuma County road supervisor Rob Englehart, MVIC board president Gerald Koppenhafer stated that the practice would no longer be allowed.
Montezuma Valley bylaws state that no water will be delivered except through the company’s headgate and an approved measuring device, according to the letter.
The county owns 20 shares of MVIC water, but MVIC says now it can now access it only from an assigned headgate off the Towaoc Highline Canal at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds.
“The county is no longer allowed to pump out of MVIC canals or lakes,” the letter states. “If pumping persists, it will be reported to the Montezuma County Sheriff as theft of water.”
Englehart told county commissioners that the reduced access to water could mean less efficient road maintenance, including for blading and dust control measures.
“It will cause longer trips to haul water and may mean that some roads get less frequent blading and dust control,” he said.
The longer hauls could result in more overtime and increased fuel costs too.
Englehart said the road department has relied on accessing MVIC canals and lakes for road maintenance in the central part of the county. He said the road department uses a small portion the 20 shares the county owns.
Koppenhafer told The Journal that the irrigation company is in a process of tightening up regulations, including the policy allowing the county to draw from unapproved sites.
“We can’t allow that for any of our shareholders, including the county,” he said.
The private irrigation company recently banned motorized boats from Narraguinnep Reservoir in an effort to prevent an invasive mussel contamination. And in October, a rare administrative call by the state water board forced them to temporarily shut off a supply ditch from Little Fish creek into Groundhog Reservoir.
A possible solution for the county’s road maintenance needs is to establish another approved and metered diversion point to access their water shares, Koppenhafer said.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com