Southwest Colorado residents who arrived before the mid-1980s remember the landscape without McPhee Reservoir. They remember when the Dolores River passed under the bridge near Dolores and continued along its narrow way to the northwest, unimpeded by a dam. They remember how that canyon looked before it was flooded.
Some of the other changes came more gradually, so theyre harder to pinpoint, but its important to remember that life without McPhee was, simply put, drier. Agriculture was different, and it brought in less revenue. The river was a torrent in the spring and a trickle the rest of the year, including most of the growing season. There was less water for municipal and industrial development. There were fewer canals, fewer trees. Treaty obligations to provide water were not being fulfilled. From Dove Creek to Towaoc, the land was browner, grayer.
There was no Anasazi Heritage Center on the hill, providing an additional way for visitors to encounter Southwest archaeology, an additional reason for them to spend time in the area.
There were no big trout in the Lower Dolores, nor kokanee above Dolores. There were no campgrounds by the lake, there was no boating on the lake, no ice-fishing there. There was no lake, and what a difference it has made.
Reservoirs are not without their critics, precisely because they change a landscape in such dramatic and lasting ways. This one flooded a lumber town, obscured many archaeological resources, and changed downstream flows. No water project is without costs.
The Dolores Project is remarkable in that nearly everyone in the area was willing to pay those costs. The project enjoyed widespread support, thanks in part to many years of groundwork laid by men who had the foresight to see, and teach others, what difference a dependable water supply would make.
In the 1880s, the Montezuma Journal newspaper, describing the Montezuma Valley Irrigation tunnel and canals, mentioned a vast project which would bring plentiful water supplies to the area. A feasibility study was presented to Congress around 1915. A 1938 Journal story mentioned that the project was only a vote or two away from approval. Congress finally approved the Dolores Project in 1968, only to have it vetoed by President Jimmy Carter. (Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Ford had also created obstacles).
Through all that, local visionaries persevered, and in 1977, residents of the district approved the repayment contract by an unheard-of margin, 3,926 to 299. The strongest opposition came from Dolores, where the vote was 371 to 108 still 78 percent in favor.
The local-federal partnership was essential. A story that ran in a special edition of the Journal in September 1977, after the contract was approved, pointed out that the people in the district will pay back about $12 million of the $200 million over a period of 50 years through water sales and a levy of half a mill. Those numbers would change over time, but the financial leverage was, and remains, tremendous.
The construction of the dam brought numerous jobs, and that income flowed through the local economy. After construction ended and water began to flow, a quarter century ago, Montezuma and Dolores counties began to enjoy the benefits of a planned water supply, benefits that continue to this day.
Thats worth celebrating again. The entire region owes a debt of gratitude to all the people who believed for so long in the Dolores Project and finally found ways to make the dream a reality.