Report disputes need for new dam

Report disputes need for new dam

Nov. 18, 2000

By Jim Mimiaga
Journal Staff Writer

THE SHALLOW WATER in the lower Dolores River is easily seen in this photo from October. Fish have difficulty surviving in the river during drought years such as this one, and various remedies have been proposed for the problem.

A top Colorado engineering firm has completed a hydrology study on the Dolores River stating that there is enough water stored in McPhee Reservoir to increase downstream flows required to improve damaged fish habitat.

The study’s conclusions, released this week by Trout Unlimited and the Rocky Mountain Office of Environmental Defense, refutes the need to build Plateau Creek Dam north of McPhee as a way to solve the problem.

The $6 million project is tentatively being sought by the Dolores Water Conservancy District as a way to store, and then more consistently release, additional water for fisheries below the dam.

"In 1990, releases from McPhee Reservoir for the downstream fishery were so low that many fish died and since then we have been looking for more water," said Dick Nickum, executive director for Colorado Trout Unlimited.

"Some have suggested that the only way to get that water is to build another reservoir in the basin, but this study shows that we already have all the dams we need to provide water for both fish and irrigators."

Following McPhee’s implementation in the mid-1980s it became clear that the downstream releases allocated by the Bureau of Reclamation for the fishery were inadequate, and threatened the survival of native cutthroat and rainbow trout. Typically, a minimum of between 20 and 80 cubic feet per second (cfs) is sent downstream, a level a team of federal, state, and private biologists assert is too shallow for fish to thrive in.

The problem is magnified during dry years, when the release is maintained at 20 cfs, said Division of Wildlife fish biologist Mike Japhet during a recent fish-population study on the river. Shallow waters compromise cold waters needed for trout survival during hot weather, essentially cooking them to death.

A more reliable and flexible "pool system" within McPhee was created after the 1990 fish kill to better manage downstream flows.

But the DWCD believed there was not enough to bring the "pool" amount up to the 36,500 acre-feet required by U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists without harming irrigation user rights.

So in 1998, under the so-called Water for Everyone Tomorrow Package, or WETPACK, the DWCD suggested construction of a 20,000-acre-foot reservoir at Plateau Creek as a way to store the additional 3,300 acre-feet needed to keep the downstream flow at an acceptable level year-round, even in drought years.

Initial financing for the project was stalled last year after rafting groups opposed to the plan effectively killed it, arguing the additional dam would affect already-limited whitewater spring releases relied upon for private and commercial boating trips on the lower Dolores River. Since then the project has been put on the back burner.

"This study proves that we already have Water for Everyone Tomorrow; it’s called McPhee Reservoir," quipped Jim Martin, senior attorney for Environmental Defense, referring to the 54-page hydrology report.

It states that less demand than expected for irrigation and municipal water use in McPhee has freed up 18,615 more acre-feet for downstream releases. In 1997, the city of Cortez sold back 4,000 acre-feet of municipal water to the district because optimistic growth projections that had Cortez rivaling Farmington, N.M., by 2020 failed to materialize.

According to simulations, the data demonstrated that the additional water "could be added to the current Project water allocation for downstream fisheries without limiting historical diversions by other Project users."

Currently about 230,000 acre-feet of water is diverted annually from McPhee Reservoir for irrigation purposes, according to the study. The reservoir, considered to be the second-largest in the state behind Blue Mesa near Gunnison, has a capacity of 380,000 acre-feet.

McPhee Manager John Porter said the report’s conclusion that more dams aren’t needed was expected, and added that more time was needed to analyze the results.

"It was no surprise. We have known that not all of the water has been being used, partly because the Utes have not drawn their full share yet and our full-service acreage is not all getting water yet," Porter said. "Our board is open to look at all options. WETPACK is still wide open to options that will increase the flow below the dam."

Describing the news of available water as an opportunity for win-win solutions, Martin added that "we can meet the needs for fishery and recreation without harming other water-users — and without building more dams."

Porter countered that he has "heard from their side how they’re going to win, but I have not heard how we were going to win, so more discussion is needed because I’m sure they have missed some information."

The study, conducted by Hydrosphere Resource Consultants, can be obtained at www.cotrout.org or www.environmentaldefense.org