Letter to Estevan López, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation - Lake Nighthorse

Letter

Dear Commissioner López:

We write to request that the Bureau of Reclamation open Colorado's Lake Nighthorse to public access at the earliest practicable date. We appreciate recent opportunities to communicate with your staff in order to share updates, convey our commitment to this locally-supported project, and express our optimism that the recreation development process will make meaningful progress this year.

Following these conversations, we were pleased to see that, as of March 6, 2015, all members and partners of the Animas La Plata Project's Operation, Maintenance and Replacement Association have endorsed the assessment of a draft recreational plan for the lake.

Given this momentum, we encourage the Bureau to expedite and prioritize its environmental analysis of the proposal, which would clear the way to open the lake to public access.

We're also pleased to report that the following entities have sent letters in support of recreation at Lake Nighthorse: Southern Ute Tribe; Ute Mountain Ute Tribe; Navajo Nation; La Plata Conservancy District; Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District; San Juan Water Commission; Colorado Water Conservation Board; La Plata Archuleta Water District; Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority; and the City of Durango. Given this impressive show of support throughout the region, we urge the Bureau to redouble their efforts to analyze and adopt an agreeable plan that will open Lake Nighthorse to recreational access as soon as possible. We look forward to your response including a timeline for next steps and to the resolution of this issue.

Thank you for your continued attention and focus on this matter.

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