Cortez Journal Online - Cortez Colorado

The canal is 60 years old. It was not = built=20 to current standards. It has = deteriorated=20 significantly in recent years, and it is = threatened by landslides that also = restrict=20 access to it. It cannot handle all the = water the=20 Mancos Water Conservancy District is = entitled to=20 divert =97 water the Mancos Valley has a = right to=20 use. That=92s the first set of reasons = for the=20 repairs.

The second set has much larger = implications.=20 The Mancos Project, through its water = storage at=20 Jackson Gulch Reservoir, supplies = municipal=20 water to the town of Mancos, domestic = water to=20 Mesa Verde National Park and through the = Mancos=20 Rural Water company, and irrigation = water to 237=20 agricultural users.

The reservoir is known as Jackson = Lake to=20 locals and is managed for recreation as = Lake=20 Mancos State Park, but its primary = impact is not=20 recreational. Without Jackson water, = which=20 originates in the mountains right above = our=20 heads, the valley is far less = inhabitable and=20 the economy falters.

For all those reasons, the project = needs to=20 be maintained, and for that, it needs = federal=20 money. The ag users have been bearing = most of=20 the burden through user fees, in = addition to a=20 1.5 mill levy throughout the district. = In 2005,=20 district voters approved a 5 mill = property-tax=20 increase =97 still not much to guarantee = a=20 dependable water supply.

In the high desert, no issue is more = vital=20 than water to continued survival and = economic=20 success. The Mancos Project provides = water for=20 domestic use, agriculture, tourism and=20 recreation. In order to continue doing = so, and=20 to do it more effectively, it needs=20 infrastructure repairs. Keeping it in = good=20 repair is far more cost-effective than=20 rebuilding it after it no longer = functions, or=20 bringing water in from somewhere else. = There=92s=20 no political maneuvering here, just = money for a=20 project that benefits everyone in the = area.

The district board is asking = community=20 leaders, business owners and residents = to write=20 letters of support to Sen. Allard, Sen. = Salazar=20 and Rep. John Salazar. Addresses, sample = letters=20 and talking points are available on the = MWCD Web=20 page at jacksongulchrehab.info. For more = information, call MWCD Superintendent = Gary=20 Kennedy at 533-7325.

This is a project that deserves = support=20 throughout the county. Although the = scope of the=20 water service is limited, the economic = impacts=20 of Mesa Verde National Park are far = broader. The=20 Mancos Valley is the eastern gateway to=20 Montezuma County, and if it withers, the = entire=20 region will suffer.

Write letters to congressmen. Make = phone=20 calls. In the larger scheme of federal = funding,=20 or even on the scope of the long-delayed = Animas-La Plata Project, $6 million = isn=92t even a=20 blip, but it will keep the lifeblood of = the=20 Mancos Valley flowing, and it will help = keep=20 visitor dollars trickling into Montezuma = County=20 coffers by continuing to flow up the = mesa as=20 well.