Brief by Marcia Darnell
San Luis Valley – September 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
La Sierra Mas
La Sierra, aka the Taylor Ranch, was opened to 410 more people. The access, granted to the descendants of the pre-1960 users, allows hunting, grazing and firewood gathering. Access was closed for decades by private owners, resulting in bitter, sometimes bloody, conflict. More applications for access are under review.
Vote Previews
Voters in Alamosa will decide whether to extend a half-cent sales tax to finance the removal of arsenic from the city’s drinking water. The necessary cleanup facility is expected to run to $16 million, with the city covering $14.2 million. Voters will also need to approve further debt to finance the cleanup. Alamosa could be looking at $1 million a year in payments for 20 years.
In Mosca, voters will elect 4 members of the Sangre de Cristo school board. Six seats are up for grabs in Alamosa schools.
Water Woes in a Wet Year
The Valley had heavy runoff this year, but water shortages grow worse. Water engineer Steve Vandiver said the snowpack of 150 to 170 percent got sucked right into the soil, starved by seven years of drought. Paying the debt on the Rio Grande Compact leaves little to show for a wet winter.
Members of the El Codo ditch near Antonito began irrigating late to accommodate the Compact, and now their season is being ended early. Only the top priority ditch from the Conejos River is still running.
Native son U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar urged Valley citizens to unite to protect Valley water. “The enemy is not a Front Range City with millions of people,” Salazar said. “The enemy, if we don’t do this, is ourselves.” Speaking at a conference on sustainable energy, he urged farmers and ranchers to join water conservation subdistricts and conserve water in their businesses.
Meanwhile, the city of Monte Vista will file a water augmentation plan in court. The town of 5,000 needs to protect its ditch rights and deal with declining flow in the Rio Grande.
CRT Yay!
Creede Repertory Theatre celebrated 40 years of entertaining with one big party. Celebrations included several of this season’s shows, a street dance in town, fireworks and more. Many past company members arrived to celebrate and reminisce.
More to celebrate: USA Today named CRT one of the top 10 regional theaters in the U.S.
Brief Briefs
Monte Vista quilter Bea Manzanares (profiled in the March, 2004, Colorado Central ) made the cover of Quilters magazine for her work “Beloved Sunflowers.”
The Hanna Ranch, a Colorado Centennial ranch, was sold to a developer. Land Properties Inc., may subdivide the 2,100-acre ranch near South Fork.
Don and Judy Jolly of Del Norte received the Coors Environmental Stewardship Award for their efforts to conserve water in their barley growing operation.
Mineral County moved its deadlines for the Village at Wolf Creek back one year, due to pending lawsuits.
Marie DeHerrera, director of the Conejos County Library, was named to the Advocacy Honor Roll of the American Library Association. Credited with founding the library in 1976, she has determinedly kept it running through several financial crises since.
The DOW reports 46 lynx were born this spring, a record. And black bear sightings are up at the Great Sand Dunes.
Creede Community Congregational Church celebrated its 100th birthday.
Alamosan Tim Dellett raised over $15,000 for SLV Habitat for Humanity, riding 500 miles along the Mississippi River. It was his 10th ride in the Habitat 500.
The Valley chapter of the American Red Cross honored Cornelia Heersink for 40 years of volunteer service.
Mineral County OK’d the annexation of 40 acres, including the grave of Bob Ford.
*Trinidad State Junior College – Valley Campus reports record enrollment, with over 1,000 full- and part-time students.
Barbara Medina, Deborah Blake and Raina Cohn were chosen as fellows in the USDA’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program. The three from the Valley were the only Coloradans selected.
Watch out — Alamosa cops are now ticketing jaywalkers and people riding bikes on sidewalks.
