“The silver lining is we kept our corn mill fully staffed and operational.” Farm operations include the Bow and Arrow mill, a state-of-the-art facility opened in 2014 that sells non-GMO, gluten-free and kosher cornmeal to food manufacturers, grocery stores and distilleries. “That is the hardest part, losing jobs,” said General Manager Simon Martinez. The tribe laid off half its farmworkers, about 20 total, most of whom are tribal members. The water shortage dried out fields and brought financial challenges for the farming and ranching operations. The tribe’s 7,600-acre farm received just 10% of its 24,517 acre-foot allocation. The 2021 deficit caused a 90% water shortage for farmers tied to the Dolores Water Conservancy District, including the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. The runoff from mountain snowmelt never made it to McPhee, where the water level already was low from the previous parched year. Marginal mountain snowpack was sucked up by dry ground and whisked away on the warm spring wind. In 2021, drought-stricken fallow fields have replaced the bounty of alfalfa and corn harvests on the Ute Mountain Farm & Ranch operations, an economic hardship brought on by the worst water year in McPhee Reservoir history. Shiprock rises from the horizon in San Juan County,New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation south of Towaoc. (Jim Mimiaga/The Journal) 1600 969 Mandatory Credit: Jerry McBride Durango HeraldĬenter pivots sit in an alfalfa field on Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Farm & Ranch Enterprises land. 720 519 Ute Mountain Ute Tribe elders Laverna Summa and Vera Summa pose in front of traditional tribal leaders in Tribal Council.
Ute Mountain Ute Farm & Ranch Enterprises near Towaoc on Nov. 1600 1126 Mandatory Credit: Jerry McBride Durango Herald Fallow, drought-stricken fields have replaced alfalfa and corn harvests during the worst water year in McPhee Reservoir history. 1600 1067 Mandatory Credit: Jerry McBride Durango HeraldĪ center-pivot irrigation system is idle in an alfalfa field on Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Farm & Ranch Enterprises land in late October. “When I visit those places today, the springs are not seeping any more.” Water shortages are happening again, brought on by a worsening dry spell that started in 2002. “We traveled by horse and wagon to fill up containers with water.” “When I was a little girl, there were a lot of streams that came from springs on the Ute Mountain where we always collected water,” added tribal elder Colleen Cuthair-Root. It was salty water, and we did not depend on it,” Laverna Summa said. We collected it and stored the water in barrels.” 0 Video YouTube 480 360 The Mancos River runs through Ute Mountain reservation lands, but it dried up after Jackson Reservoir was built in 1950 to serve the Mancos area upstream, said elder Laverna Summa, Vera’s sister. “The snow used to be 3 feet in the mountains. “Get the snow and melt it, that is how we used to drink water,” she said. During winter, adults, elders and children collected snow in bundles and hauled it out on their backs, Summa said. Vera Summa remembers the 1950s, when she and her grandmother collected water from the springs and mesas of Sleeping Ute Mountain. Tribal elders remember water scarcity long before the Colorado Ute Water Rights Settlement of 1988, which provides water for tribal lands from the Dolores River and McPhee Reservoir. This one was worse.” Water is sacred for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and with less to go around, the tribe is searching for ways to augment its supply. “Before when we had droughts, we managed to keep working. “I was one of the main guys, but no water, no crop no equipment operators needed,” said Lang, 45. But when flows in the Dolores River and McPhee Reservoir came in at 10% for the 2021 season, he and 20 other workers on the farm suddenly lost their jobs. He has seen water supply fluctuate up and down. Tribal member Wilford Lang drove a tractor for more than 20 years for the tribe’s 7,600-acre alfalfa and corn farm, southwest of Towaoc.
In the Ute Mountain Ute language, paa is the word for water, nüvav means “snow,” uway means “to rain,” and tühpar üatüaa means “dried up cropland.” These words weigh heavy on the minds of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Southwest Colorado because they are missing the critical ingredients of snow in the mountains and rain in the valleys.These words weigh heavily on the minds of Ute Mountain Utes in Southwest Colorado because they are missing the critical ingredients of snow in the mountains and rain in the valleys.
A future of drought? Ute Mountain Ute Tribe looks at life with less water Limited water supply consolidated to keep corn crop and flour mill operating jobs lost, canal payment assistance requested 1600 1067 Mandatory Credit: Jerry McBride Durango HeraldĪn irrigation ditch carries water to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Farm & Ranch Enterprises land on Oct.