Southern Ute Tribe taps Animas–La Plata water rights after 60 years of roadblocks
By Shannon Mullane | Colorado Sun
For years, two tribes have pointed to the barely used, multimillion-dollar project near Durango to show tribal water access challenges in the Colorado River Basin
This summer, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe rolled out miles of temporary rubber water lines. The above-ground tubes had one job: carrying water to oil and gas operations on the reservation.
But the pipelines also represent something else: a historic moment in a drawn-out, arduous debate over water in southwestern Colorado.
In May, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe tapped into its water in the controversial Animas-La Plata Project, the first time a tribe has used its water from the project since it was authorized in 1968.
The Animas-La Plata Project has come to encapsulate long-held dre...
