DURANGO, Colo.—Federal and state officials are due to negotiate Friday on what Colorado owes for construction costs on the $500 million Animas-La Plata Project.
The project settles tribal water-rights claims and provides water to three tribes and plus four nontribal entities. It includes a reservoir near Durango that can hold 120,000 acre-feet of water.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation says the state owes $36.5 million. A state law authorizes the state to spend $36 million.
Other partners on the project are the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute tribes, the San Juan Water Commission, the La Plata Conservancy District, the Navajo Nation, and the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority.
The Durango Herald reports the bureau has construction-cost agreements with those partners, except the tribes, which weren’t assessed for construction.
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Information from: Durango Herald,
