Southwest Colorado is in extreme drought, and municipalities are responding with restrictions. Cortez and Durango have both moved to limit outdoor water use – a signal conservation is no longer optional.
Cortez is on a phased path, with voluntary restrictions beginning April 1 and mandatory limits starting May 15 through Sept. 15, including daytime watering bans. The city is coordinating outreach and education with Dolores, Mancos, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Montezuma County.
McPhee Reservoir, Cortez’s primary source, is expected to rise only five to six feet this summer. Ken Curtis of the Dolores Water Conservancy District called it “pathetically low.” Junior water rights holders may receive just 15% of normal allocations, with shortages possible by midsummer (Journal, April 15).
The Dolores Water Conservancy District split limited irrigation water between Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch Enterprises and northern irrigators – about 385 acre-feet each. As one board member put it: “It’s gonna be ugly.”
Conditions on the Animas remain manageable, but the Dolores River is a different story. In low-snow years, flows below McPhee can nearly disappear, isolating pools, stressing native fish and limiting recreation. According to Rica Fulton of Dolores River Boating Advocates, commercial boating has been possible only three times in the past decade (Journal, April 1).
The crisis extends beyond Southwest Colorado. At a recent water seminar in Ignacio, officials and stakeholders underscored how quickly conditions are worsening across the region. Southwest Colorado has faced nearly 25 years of low snowpack, with higher temperatures compounding the problem – more precipitation falling as rain and snowmelt arriving earlier, reducing late-season supply (Journal, April 8). Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell delivered a stark assessment of negotiations among the seven states that rely on the river: deadlines have passed, agreements have lapsed, and Lake Powell and Lake Mead sit at critically low levels. She praised the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe for using only a small fraction of its allocated water and warned that further cuts would deepen an already painful year (Journal, April 1).
Durango enacted Stage 1 mandatory restrictions April 11, limiting lawn irrigation to three days a week and targeting a 20% reduction in demand. Violators face fines up to $300 and possible disconnection (Journal, April 15).
Residents should act now: water only during allowed hours, fix leaks, reduce overspray and consider replacing turf with low-water landscaping.
Current restrictions are a floor, not a ceiling. Avoiding stricter measures depends on whether residents and businesses act now.
For agricultural producers, Colorado State University Extension is hosting a drought planning workshop Thursday, April 23, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lewis-Arriola Community Center in Cortez. Registration is $5 and includes dinner; sign up at https://col.st/onfdw or call 970-570-5497.
The Nature Conservancy is offering grants of $25,000 to $100,000 for flood and drought resilience projects in Southwest Colorado. Applications are due by 5 p.m. May 22; contact swcofunding@tnc.org (Journal, April 22).
Water in Southwest Colorado is not a resource to be managed in wet years. It is one to be protected in all of them.
