WASHINGTON – The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe received $7.5 million for a new design of a pipeline that delivers drinking water to Towaoc.
The funding for the design is the first step toward the pipeline’s replacement. The funding is focused on 18 miles of the 22-mile pipeline, which delivers water from the McPhee Reservoir before it is treated in Cortez and piped to Towaoc.
“We've been running into a lot of maintenance issues on it,” said Manuel Heart, chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.
This funding for the pipeline comes from an Inflation Reduction Act program. The funding is under IRA Section 50231, based on the Tribal Domestic Water Supply Program. Administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, the funding supports the planning and construction of domestic water infrastructure projects.
“Our tribal communities have long lacked adequate resources to reliably access clean drinking water,” said U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper in a written statement. “Thanks to our Inflation Reduction Act, we’re changing that. This $7.5 million will connect Cortez and Towaoc to deliver clean drinking water and create good-paying jobs for the Ute Mountain Ute.”
Heart said the soil was not tested before the part of the pipeline was originally installed, which has caused maintenance issues.
“It’s been having some water breaks, water leaks,” Heart said. “So we've been losing water.”
Heart said the water leaks have cost between $80,000 and $300,000 to fix depending on where the water break is.
Even after funding for improving the pipeline was approved, the tribe is still focused on obtaining compensation for their water rights.
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe also applied for funding through a separate IRA program to compensate for their water rights. The Bureau of Reclamation did not approve this funding.
Combined, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Southern Ute Indian Tribe hold rights to about 33,000 acre-feet of water in Lake Nighthorse. Lawmakers provided funds only for the construction of the project and not a delivery system in 2000. Without a pipeline out of Lake Nighthorse to their reservations, water flows downstream.
“It's sitting there, and we're not being compensated for it,” Heart said. “And it's being used in other areas.”
Since the tribes are not compensated for the water to which they are entitled, but do not use, lawmakers urged the Bureau of Reclamation to explore alternative routes of funding.
“The Colorado Tribal Nations had planned to apply in a bid to receive compensation for forgoing use of certain water rights as recognized under the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988 (as amended in 2000),” said the lawmakers in a letter to the Bureau of Reclamation. “For decades since that Act’s passage, the Colorado Tribal Nations have lacked the infrastructure needed to fully develop their allocated water supply.”
Heart said the tribe is also exploring alternative options for access to their water rights.
“We're trying to quantify our water rights in all three states, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah,” Heart said. “It's for the future use of our tribal members.”
Maria Tedesco is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mtedesco@durangoherald.com.
