Run-off returning to the Dolores
‘Substantial spill’ scheduled to begin April 30

A rafter navigates the crux of Snaggletooth during happier times on the Dolores River. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, happy days will soon be here again, with substantial planned releases this spring./Photo by Mark Pearson

by Will Sands

One of the Southwest's great rivers is coming back to life this spring. After a nearly six-year hiatus, spring run-off is returning to the Lower Dolores beginning April 30. While Mother Nature deserves most of the credit for the coming flow, a collaborative process is forging ahead with the hopes of restoring regular spring runs on the stretch.

Flows on the Lower Dolores have been stunted for nearly 20 years, since the final stone was placed on the McPhee Reservoir dam in 1985. While agriculture has been greatly enhanced by the reservoir, the character of the Dolores River has been greatly impacted. The impact has been especially noticeable since 2000, when significant water was last released from the dam. Since that time, spring run-off above the reservoir has been as high as 3,000 cubic feet per second yet trickling at a mere 40 cfs below the dam. Boaters are not the only ones who have suffered from this situation. Absence of water has negatively impacted wildlife and damaged what was once a world-class fishery.

However, the Lower Dolores will have some its old flavor beginning April 30, thanks largely to a generous regional snowpack.

"There will be a rafting season this year," said Vern Harrell, of the Bureau of Reclamation. "We're taking advantage of the wet conditions, and there will be a substantial spill."

By substantial spill, Harrell means that there will be a total of 46 days of boatable water on the Lower Dolores, cresting at a high point of 3,000 cfs. While this is good news for recreation, another group of diverse interests is also applauding the return of water to the Lower Dolores.

The Dolores River Coalition was launched in early June of 2003 with a mission of protecting and enhancing the entire Dolores River Basin. The coalition spans 23 different groups ranging from conservation groups such as Durango's San Juan Citizens' Alliance to the Environmental Defense Fund. Agencies like the Forest Service and Montezuma County are also represented, along with entities associated with water development like the Montezuma Valley Irrigators Association, the Dolores River Water Conservancy District and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Though the group is working on issues throughout the river basin, one of the first items on a long list is getting more water to flow below McPhee Dam and not just on big snow years.

"This year is kind of a fluke," said Chuck Wanner, the coalition's coordinator. "Nature brought this to us, and we'll all get out and enjoy it. But we still have to develop a long-term management strategy for that section of river."

The coalition is working to meet three needs on the Lower Dolores, according to Wanner. Those needs are: maintaining the stream shape and the habitats for the various native species; restoring the cold water trout fishery; and restoring recreation.

"Whatever we decide to do, we need to have a solid foundation and that means having the right stakeholders involved," Wanner said. "Anything done in any other way won't last."

The Dolores winds its way through a remote canyon in Colorado. The Dolores River Coalition, a group of various river stakeholders, is working to restore more regular flows to the river, like the one planned for this spring./Photo courtesy of USGS

"Whatever we decide to do, we need to have a solid foundation and that means having the right stakeholders involved," Wanner said. "Anything done in any other way won't last."

In this spirit, a series of talks were kicked off shortly after the formation of the coalition. Called the Dolores River Dialogue, the effort includes numerous stakeholders from throughout the basin and is making slow but steady headway.

"All the players that need to be there are still there and moving forward in a positive fashion," Wanner said. "Nobody knows what the results will be. That's still a pretty open-ended question."

Mike Preston, of the Fort Lewis College Office of Community Services, has been charged with moderating the Dolores River Dialogue. Like Wanner, Preston said that the experience has been a positive one. And like Wanner, he said it is far from over.

"I think it's very promising in terms of the progress that's been made up to this point," Preston said. "But this is really just the front-end of a much more long-term process. Certainly, the foundation is being laid, and we'll build on it with what we learn from the spill and what we learn from each other."

In addition to providing a boon for boaters and wildlife, the coming spill on the Lower Dolores is also providing an opportunity for the coalition to study the effects of near normal run-off on the Lower Dolores.

"There are obvious recreation benefits associated with the spill," Preston said. "There could also be potential benefits to the fishery and the riparian habitats of the Dolores."

As a result, numerous studies will be under way before, during and after the period of run-off. A trout study will be conducted, the entire stretch of river will be photographed before and after the event to assess changes to the streambed, and vegetative types before and after the event will be considered.

"We're really trying to do it right," Wanner said. "Different members of the Dolores River Dialogue are stepping up to the plate, and it's all proceeding very well."

In the meantime, many members of the coalition also have other, short-term designs on the Lower Dolores.

"It's been a while," Wanner said in closing. "I think everybody's hot to get on the river."