<\/p>\n
A new documentary slated for a January release lays bare the rigid conflicts over water use along the drought-stricken Dolores River, as irrigators, rafters and others strive for some sort of balance.<\/p>\n
About a year ago, Dolores River Boating Advocates received a grant from Patagonia to create a film about the spectrum of issues that surround the Dolores River.<\/p>\n
River filmmakers Rig to Flip won the bid and spent more than 50 days filming this summer. Now in post-production, project director Cody Perry said the documentary \u2013 \u201cRiver of Sorrows: The Dolores River Project\u201d \u2013 will premiere in Dolores on Jan. 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dolores River represents some of the most important issues facing communities throughout the West,\u201d Perry said. \u201cIt\u2019s really a case study on the dangers of a transbasin diversion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dolores River was dammed in the late 1980s, effectively forming McPhee Reservoir, and various stakeholders drafted the Dolores Project Plan, which set out to secure water supplies \u2013 in years past water flows would either run dry or dangerously low because of overuse.<\/p>\n
Most of the water was allocated to irrigate more than 70,000 acres of otherwise arid land, allowing farmers to extend the planting season through September. However, the top priority on the list was communities outside the river\u2019s basin reliant on the water for domestic purposes: namely, the city of Cortez and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.<\/p>\n
When all was said and done, annual downstream releases of the Dolores were more than cut in half. Add that to nearly two decades of drought in the Colorado River basin, and it\u2019s no wonder tensions have arisen over water rights.<\/p>\n
Critics of the Dolores Project, namely boaters, say the plan leaves little room for fisheries and recreation to thrive on the river. Though those two uses are part of the plan, high levels of water are released only in years of excess, which have become increasingly rare.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy approach to managing the district is that all of these things matter,\u201d said Mike Preston, general manager of the Dolores Water Conservancy District. \u201cProviding water to farms is highly critical to those families and the local economy, and providing water to the community is obviously very important.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we are equally obligated by law to take care of the fishery, and provide boating days,\u201d he said. \u201cI take those obligations as seriously as the others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee-Ann Hill, program coordinator for the Dolores River Boating Advocates, said because water managers allocate only a few days a year to large releases, it\u2019s difficult to plan trips in advance and sustain a livelihood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I speak with commercial boaters that used to use the river, they feel at the bottom of the totem pole with their livelihood,\u201d Hill said. \u201cI understand other livelihoods depend on the river, and we really strive to work together with all the water users to find a sweet spot where we can all enjoy and use the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hill said she wanted to approach these sensitive issues, through different perspectives, to transcend emotions and get to a bigger question: How can water in the basin be used more effectively?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to portray the matrix,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery user has an idea that\u2019s probably through the lens of their dominant use. But at the end of the day, we need to use this source together.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Hill, who has rafted the Dolores River in good years, can\u2019t express enough to those who have never had the chance how important it is to reopen the lower portions of the river.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s magical,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been compared to other legendary rivers and canyons, like the Grand Canyon and Salmon River, and it\u2019s true. Passing through it is a really different experience. It just resonates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perry acknowledged that in making a film as an avid rafter, backed by a boating advocate group, it was important to let the people invested in the Dolores River from all sides tell the story.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t really have an agenda, or believe in that kind of thing,\u201d he said. \u201cIf anything, it\u2019s the people telling the story. The story exists out there will all these constituents, and we\u2019re really guided by a single question: What do we stand to inherit here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Preston said when an outsider comes in and puts a spotlight on something as sensitive as the Dolores River, it can go either way: The film can needlessly stir up emotions, or be a useful tool for communication and education.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf all goes well, then you move beyond stereotyping,\u201d Preston said. \u201cBut when you get to the human side of it, it rounds out your perspective. It\u2019s real people who have a real interest that will best be met if they understand and communicate with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
The filmmakers are now asking for donations through an IndieGoGo page for the final editing costs associated with the documentary. Perry said he plans to show the film throughout the region and, he hopes, beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve uncovered the type of narrative tension that deserves an audience that is perhaps international,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the very least, the American public ought to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n