The towns of Mancos and Dolores were on the top of the list of the U.S. House of Representatives’ agenda yesterday.

After the House convened at 2 p.m. Monday, the members immediately considered two Senate bills — one to transfer the ownership of Joe Rowell Park from the U.S. Forest Service to the town of Dolores, and one to allow the Mancos Water Conservancy District to carry non-project water for irrigation and other beneficial uses.

A vote on both of the measures was suspended until yesterday evening and could come as late as today. As of press time, the House had not voted on either measure, but both were likely to pass.

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) sponsored both measures in the Senate.

On Oct. 5, the Senate passed S. 1972, the bill that would transfer the ownership of a 25-acre park adjacent to the Dolores River and McPhee Reservoir, to the town of Dolores. Dolores is currently managing and maintaining Joe Rowell Park under a special-use permit.

Since she doesn’t subscribe to C-SPAN, the cable television channel that broadcasts live from the U.S. House and Senate, Park Planning Committee Chair Marianne Mate, who lobbied for the bill, watched the measure’s suspension at the Hollywood Bar in Dolores yesterday afternoon.

She said all of the effort that went into the measure was worth it. "I’ve learned so much about the process, and how very difficult it is to get legislation through," she commented. "It’s been incredible"

A spokesperson for Allard, Brooke Morton, said the House’s consideration of the bill was "good news" and said that the measure was likely to pass — "it was just a matter of getting it to a vote."

Without the ownership transfer, any routine improvements to the park would require the U.S. Forest Service to conduct expensive and time-consuming environmental-impact studies.

Despite having to jump over a number of bureaucratic hurdles, the town has put roughly $400,000 worth of improvements into the park, including soccer and softball fields.

If the legislation passes, ownership of Joe Rowell Park would be transferred on the condition that the land be used "for open space, park and recreational purposes."

Should the town attempt to transfer ownership of any portion of the park, the land would revert to the Forest Service.

On Oct. 13, the Senate unanimously passed Allard’s bill, S. 2594, amending the Water Conservation and Utilization Act to allow the Mancos Water Conservancy District to carry non-project water for irrigation and other beneficial uses.

Since 1968, the MWCD has had long- and short-term contracts to carry non-project water, but Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt recently determined that projects under the water-conservation act do not have the authority to use project resources for this purpose. The short-term contracts were recently denied renewal, while the long-term contracts will be denied at their expiration.

Allard introduced the legislation after consulting with the MWCD and local officials, who said the loss of the right to carry non-project water would have serious negative consequences to agriculture, business and municipalities within the district.