Dolores River

Spring brings more precipitation and warmer temps. Dolores River flows increase, McPhee Reservoir at 78% capacity. Be cautious with rising waters and check your flotation gear.

Efforts to implement new protections on the Dolores River corridor are continuing on two fronts.

Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper answered questions about protections for the Dolores River corridor and numerous other issues at a town hall in Cortez Tuesday night. And the Montezuma-Cortez District Re-1 school board on Wednesday issued a statement saying it is waiting for the result of legal proceedings against the district superintendent before “making any assumptions.”

The presence of zebra-mussel veligers in the Upper Colorado River near Grand Junction has water managers concerned but not panicked.

The future of the Dolores River and its surrounding landscape remains a topic of widespread disagreement.

Arguments continue to rage over whether President Biden should designate a national monument on lands along the Dolores River.

Troubled by the possibility of a new national monument along the Lower Dolores River, county commissioners for both Montezuma and Dolores counties met Tuesday and voiced support for creating a National Conservation Area instead.

A Mancos resident is investigating the Indigenous history of the Dolores River in southwest Colorado. Amorina Lee-Martinez completed her PhD on water management around the Dolores River at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She’ll be speaking at the Dolores Public Library on Thursday. The talk will cover the history of Indigenous peoples in the Four Corners, and then turn to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the origins of McPhee Reservoir. Lee-Martinez says the reservoir is a rare example of a tribal community negotiating for and successfully receiving at least part of their share of water rights in the Colorado River basin. The discussion is open to the public, and will start at 6 p.m.

Last month, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper of Colorado wrote a letter requesting a hearing for their Dolores River conservation area bill in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The committee has agreed to hold a hearing on the legislation during their next meeting on July 12. The bill would protect 68,000 acres of public lands along the river in southwest Colorado. But now, in addition to the NCA Act, community organizations that advocate on behalf of the Dolores River are discussing the idea of President Joseph Biden designating some areas not covered by the bill as a national monument. And ten new Colorado state laws took effect on Saturday.

Democratic United States Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado has reintroduced legislation to protect the Dolores River. Along with Colorado’s other senator, John Hickenlooper, Bennet reintroduced the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act, a bill aimed at protecting 68,000 acres of land in southwest Colorado. And lawmakers want to streamline how the state oversees safety in Colorado’s public schools.