Description

Synopsis of Talk:

The history of how Colorado’s rivers were allocated, dammed, and diverted is inextricable from the history of US conquest in Colorado. Amorina researched the history of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Dolores Project, which built McPhee Dam and diverts water from the Dolores watershed to the San Juan watershed for agricultural and municipal use. Importantly, the Dolores Project honors Ute Mountain Ute reserved water rights. The history of Ute people, Colorado conquest, and Dolores River management in southwest Colorado offer insights into the current dynamics of who does and does not benefit from the systems of watershed management in the Colorado River basin.

Amorina Lee-Martinez, Phd: Amorina Lee-Martinez was born and raised in Mancos, Colorado next to Webber ditch that draws from the Mancos River. Her ancestry was mixed by conquest and hails from three continents, with Afro-Cuban, Indigenous Mexican, and European heritage. She completed her PhD in Environmental Studies at CU Boulder in 2022 focused on the Dolores River and McPhee Reservoir from which most water is diverted into the San Juan watershed for agricultural and municipal needs in Montezuma County, including the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. Amorina moved to Cortez from Boulder in 2020 and now lives and works in Montezuma County.

Thursday, November 14th

6 pm

A lecture by Amorina Lee-Martinez, PhD

Free and open to the public