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Get informed and vote

To the editor,

The City of Durango will be holding an election April 7 for two City Council positions and a vote on ballot issue 1A for continuation of the half-cent tax for recreation. Ballots will be mailed to all registered voters in the city of Durango on March 20 and need to be received by the city clerk by 7 p.m. April 7. 

There are several ways to cast your vote: You can mail your ballot allowing enough time for it to be received at the County Clerk’s office by April 7 (postmarks do not count), or bring it to the city clerk’s office at 949 E. 2nd Ave., or drop it in the ballot box at the county clerk office at 98 Everett St.

You may also vote in person at the city clerk or county clerk offices starting March 24 through April 7, weekends excluded. Any person needing a ballot or a replacement ballot must request one in person at the city clerk’s office. You may register at the county clerk’s office through April 7. The office hours of the city and county clerks are the same: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on Election Day. 

The League of Women Voters of La Plata County will be holding a candidate forum on Thurs., March 19, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 949 E. 2nd Ave. This is an opportunity for you to submit your written questions to the candidates in an attempt to have the candidates’ responses assist you in determining your vote. The forum will be broadcast live on City Span, Durango Government Television on Charter channel 191 with rebroadcasts until the election. 

Remember: Your vote is your voice.

– Nadine Ancel, League of Women Voters of La Plata County

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Stop leak of West Slope water

To the editor,

Water is the life blood of Colorado’s economy and environment. The West Slope of Colorado is being pulled from at least two directions – water demands from the downstream states of California, Arizona and Nevada, and the thirst for water on the growing Front Range of our own State.

Additionally, the West Slope needs to plan for its 4  own growth and expansion. Under a compact, agreed upon in the 1920s, Colorado is obligated to deliver a certain amount of water to the downstream states every year. We have never failed to deliver that water. The water is stored or banked for use downstream in two big lakes, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Water on the West Slope headed in the direction of the Pacific Ocean is used many times before it reaches its destination. With each use, a portion of that water is consumed. That is the “consumptive use.” The balance of the water goes back into the streams and rivers, or it goes back into the ground and recharges the underground aquifer to be recaptured and used again downstream.

When water is transferred over the Continental Divide, the Western side of Colorado loses 100 percent of the consumptive use. This is called Trans-Mountain diversion, but it is actually more than that. It is Trans-Continental diversion of water, where the water is moved to a completely new water drainage headed for another ocean.

Hundreds of thousands of acre feet of Western water are transferred to the Rio Grande drainage annually through the San Juan Chama diversion project in Southwest Colorado. Additionally, close to 500,000 acre feet of water are transferred over the Continental Divide to the Arkansas and South Platte drainages on the East Slope of Colorado. It is reported that an additional 167,000 acre feet of West Slope water has been purchased for future needs on the Front Range.

To complicate the issue of Trans-Continental diversions, the water that is diverted is the freshest and cleanest high mountain water. Because this water is taken out of the Colorado River Basin and is not available for dilution, it causes an increase in the amount of salt in the water that goes west, requiring desalination projects.

As you can see, we are running out of Colorado River Basin water for Trans-Continental diversions, so it is very important that we look for other sources of water to satisfy the Front Range thirst. That is why Sens. Jerry Sonnenberg and Ellen Roberts and I are proposing a South Platte River drainage water storage study in HB15-1167.

The South Platte is the one river in Colorado where excess water, in the amount of hundreds of acre feet per year, is leaving the state, but could be legally contained and used here. This study will compliment Gov. Hickenlooper’s Water Plan and the plans of the water round tables around the state. HB15-1167 was passed out of the House Agriculture Committee on a 10-2 vote and is now assigned to the House Appropriations Committee.

– Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio

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White brings knowledge, values

To the editor,

I am happy to write this letter in support of Dick White for Durango City Council. I have known Dick since he first came to Durango, when he was eager to get involved and volunteer in his community for the greater good. I encouraged Dick to run four years ago for Durango City Council because of his passion for positive change. He is accessible, contemplative in his decision-making, and shares similar values, and I equally support his candidacy today.

Watching Dick over the last four years on City Council, I have been impressed with his thoughtful responses, his leadership and knowledge regarding issues involving sustainability, and his sustained efforts on the new Land Use Development Code, single-stream recycling, and planning for growth.

Dick (& his wife Faye) are two people I love having in my community and my neighborhood. Together they volunteer numerous hours for many causes that they care about. They get along well with those who have different opinions, yet stick to their principles. They have inquisitive minds, always hungering for new perspectives and ideas, and they generally have a smile on their faces. I have seen Dick bring these same values to issues within the city limits, and these are the values that should stay on City Council.

Please join me in re-electing Dick White to another four years on the Durango City Council. He is someone I respect and value, and a voice that we should keep.

– Michael Rendon, Durango

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Thaw

If you should walk in the north woods this day,

you may sense the fresh, fragrant vapors

of new fallen snow.

On the path, be wary

of streams growing their grey-swell meander.

 

If you should encounter the shrill annunciation

of the hawk as it demarcates its territorial grove,

you may be startled into the joy of resurrection.

 

Below, the quickening of ground life:

squirrels twitching and scrambling,

defenseless, torpid insects moving slowly

and deliberately to their needs.

 

If you should tarry,

you may witness a bank of clouds journeying,

while the fine sun lances its light,

punctuating rhythmic shadows

on dark, loamed floors

while high above,

lime-budded aspens

baptized by warmth,

heave and bow

over the emergence,

over the great awakening!

– Burt Baldwin, Ignacio