A gentlemen\u2019s water agreement reached last month between the Town of Mancos and Mesa Verde National Park has been suspended.<\/p>\n
Park and town officials appeared satisfied after the July 24 Mancos board of trustees meeting, when both parties verbally agreed to temporarily allow the national park to divert water out of priority from the Mancos River.<\/p>\n
The deal was halted after outcry from concerned water rights owners. One resident said he was unsure of the agreement\u2019s authority or validity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very controversial,\u201d said retired water commissioner Bob Becker. \u201cThere are a lot of water right holders that are upset. This type of stuff leads to lawsuits, or even worse, shootings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mesa Verde has a 1962 junior water right off the Mancos River, but its decreed diversion is out of priority; meaning park officials should draw their water from Jackson Gulch Reservoir. The Town of Mancos has a more senior water rights claim on the Mancos River, but town officials have been drawing water from the Jackson Gulch Reservoir since April.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the term \u2018gentlemen\u2019s agreement\u2019 is misleading, and I believe the term was one that Mesa Verde or the Division of Water initially used,\u201d said Mancos Town Administrator Andrea Phillips. \u201cI would not have described this as an agreement. The town is just not protesting Mesa Verde\u2019s use of water out of priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Water resources division engineer Rege Leach told town officials at the July meeting he didn\u2019t have the authority to mandate the exchange, but said a \u201cgentlemen\u2019s agreement\u201d could be struck if both parties were satisfied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all knew it was a gray area,\u201d Leach said of the suspended deal. \u201cIt was a mischaracterization to call it an agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leach said it was \u201cinappropriate\u201d to say any type of agreement had been reached between the two parties. Without proper court documents being filed, a water pact should have never been made, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the parties involved were uncomfortable moving forward,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been awkward.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the town trustee meeting, officials from the Mesa Verde National Park opted not to divert water out of priority from the Mancos River. Instead, park officials resumed taking water from the Jackson Gulch Reservoir.<\/p>\n
Mesa Verde National Park water facility manager Frank Cope, who did not attend the July 24 meeting, said he was unaware that any type of agreement had been reached. Byron Long, the park\u2019s water treatment plant operator, attended the meeting, and argued in favor of the arrangement, citing water from the river was easier to treat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gentlemen\u2019s agreement is a benefit for all,\u201d he told The Mancos Times after speaking directly to town trustees.<\/p>\n