The possible effects a National Conservation Area might have on access to irrigation systems fed by McPhee Reservoir have prompted the Dolores Water Conservancy District to take some preventative action.

The water district board is concerned that road access to the reservoir’s irrigation systems and equipment could be somehow compromised if the NCA boundary overlaps portions of the McPhee project.

U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado) and Congressman Scott McInnis (R-Grand Junction) have proposed legislation that would provide federal protection for Ancestral Puebloan ruins scattered across 164,000 acres of public lands in Montezuma and Dolores counties.

According to the proposed legislation, the NCA map will not be officially established until 30 days after the bill passes, and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt will make the final decision regarding where the exact boundaries go.

The areas where the proposed NCA boundary and the Dolores Water project laterals border each other are: near Cajon Mesa, across the south and west ends of the Fairview laterals, the Ruin canyon laterals near Pleasant View, and some of the southwest ends of the Cahone laterals.

"Right now as the boundaries are drawn it does not include any (irrigation) laterals, but they are close, and even match-up in some cases," said John Porter, McPhee reservoir manager, during a board meeting held Thursday.

"The bill needs to be amended

to prevent this," added district board member Joe Mahaffey.

Porter said that it is in the best interest of both the NCA and the water conservacy district to leave irrigation features out of the land management plan in order to prevent access restrictions for those who depend on McPhee’s water.

"I would not think they would want any of the Dolores Project irrigation in the conservation area," he said. "There was before, but when they realized where they were, they were moved."

The board agreed to contact U.S. Sen. Ben Campbell (R-Colorado) to inform him of the potential conflict between the NCA and McPhee. They told Porter to send a resolution to Campbell’s office that the district will take a non-stance on the national push toward increased federal protection for the land, provided that the border stays outside the district’s irrigation operations. The county commissioners will also be informed of the potential conflict.

Porter said the NCA would not affect any expansion potential for the McPhee project, since the irrigation laterals that border on it could never be expanded because they lack the size and water capacity needed to do so.

"They’re at the end of the line and were not designed to extend any further," he said.

The board also expressed concern that the NCA would incorporate a "buffer zone" which would extend beyond the preliminary border and include any new land-use regulations. Such a zone could cause a conflict with access to the irrigation systems, Porter said.

Although no language regarding buffer zones is in the current NCA bills, water officials have heard rumors that such zones may be included with the legislation, Porter said.