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| 7/2/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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Journal/Sam Green
Congressman John Salazar and Gary Kennedy, superintendent of the Mancos Water Conservancy District, tour the diversion canal that takes water to Jackson Lake for the water district Tuesday. |
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Salazar channels funding for Jackson Gulch repair
Kristen Plank
Journal Staff Writer
Standing near part of the Jackson Lake canal system, with cottonwood seeds blowing like snow, Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, was able to finally picture the process for the Jackson Gulch Rehabilitation Project.
Salazar revealed to roughly 20 Mancos residents and town officials Tuesday afternoon that the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development voted in favor of distributing $2.6 million for the Jackson Gulch Rehabilitation project.
"You all have a real trooper here. Gary is quite a champion," Salazar said about Gary Kennedy, superintendent of the Mancos Water Conservancy District, who has been working on the project. "It only took two years to get authorization. This is a landmark victory."
Jackson Gulch Reservoir serves the Mancos Valley, which makes up approximately 2,300 residents, as well as Mesa Verde National Park. The 60-year-old system needs realigned earthen canals, protective waterproof linings, maintenance upgrades, pipes in canal structures, and concrete rehabilitation.
Total cost for the project will reach approximately $9 million, Kennedy said. Construction on the canal system has already started, and $1.2 million has been spent on the rehabilitation project during the past three years.
The next stop for the funding is the House floor in mid-July. It will then move to the Senate, Kennedy said. At the earliest, the water district could receive the money by May 2010.
Kennedy and others began working to acquire funding for the project in 2004. The funding will be spread over a four-year period, with $2 million acquired each year.
On Tuesday, Salazar toured Jackson Lake and the water system's canals with others through the afternoon. The significance and importance of water to a town was not lost on the congressman.
"We're farmers and ranchers," Salazar said about himself and his wife, who attended the event. "We know the importance of water and agriculture."
Kennedy, who felt very fortunate the authorization for the project only took two years, was pleased with the progress.
"This is a landmark day for the Mancos Water Conservancy District," he said. "Salazar has been very instrumental in getting authorization for the Jackson Gulch Rehabilitation Project."
Reach Kristen Plank at kristenp@cortezjournal.com.
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