Redistricting is rarely easy and sometimes gets downright ugly. If the process works out the way Rep. Mark Larson has suggested, however, Southwest Colorado could come out of it in good order.

Larson, R-Cortez, gave the Colorado Reapportionment Commission some sound advice as to how to reconfigure the 59th District he represents. The process of redrawing district lines occurs every 10 years in response to population changes revealed by the latest census. It is similar to what happens on the federal level, where Colorado is expected to gain a House seat.

Of course that means some other state loses a seat, which is not unlike what happens with Colorado counties. The number of state senators and representatives is fixed, so population shifts mean state House and Senate districts must be realigned to keep roughly equal numbers of voters in each district.

The 59th District now consists of the southern part of Montezuma County and all of La Plata, San Juan and Archuleta counties. What Larson favors is to keep the 59th District largely as is – except for Precinct 6, the southwest corner of Montezuma County. That portion, which includes the town of Towaoc and part of McElmo Canyon, would become part of the 58th District now represented by Kay Alexander, R-Montrose.

There are a number of advantages to Larson’s plan. The No. 1 benefit from the point of view of 59th District voters is that Larson would not be redistricted right out of the district he represents. That would be the case if the line in Montezuma County were simply shifted south. He has been a hard-working and attentive lawmaker and it would be a shame to lose him like that.

Another advantage is that Larson’s plan would keep Archuleta County whole and in the same district as La Plata County. Larson rightly sees a community of interest there that should not be broken up.

Other plans, such as moving San Juan and Archuleta counties into the 58th District or uniting Archuleta County with the San Luis Valley, ignore geography. Mountain passes would isolate those counties from the rest of their new districts.

Moving the southwest corner of Montezuma County into the 58th District would unite McElmo Canyon. It would also double the number of House members representing the Ute tribes.

There are no perfect redistricting schemes. In this case, Montezuma County is left divided. But given the difficulty of maintaining communities of interest, Colorado’s demanding topography and the exigencies of the process, Larson’s plan is probably as good as it gets.