If a dispute over how much water the city of Durango wants for a kayak park on the Animas River isn't settled at mediation next month, opponents will prepare for a January trial, the attorney for the Southwestern Water Conservation District said Wednesday. "Everyone would like to save the cost of a trial, and you can always settle right up to trial time," said Barry Spear of the Durango law firm of Maynes, Bradford, Shipps and Sheftel. "But we need time to prepare for trial." The first mediation was July 11, and the next is scheduled Aug. 6. The trial is on the docket for Jan. 7-18 in Durango water court. At issue is the city's application for water flows of as much as 1,400 cubic-feet per second for a structured water course on a 1,200-foot stretch of the Animas River, including Smelter Rapid, at Santa Rita Park. In legal parlance, such allocations are called a recreational in-channel diversion, or RICD. Durango's RICD application is opposed by about 50 organizations or agencies, including the Colorado Water Conservation Board, which is the lead opponent. The list of opponents also includes the federal government through the Bureau of Reclamation, ditch companies, La Plata County and the Southwestern Water Conservation District, which represents water interests in six counties and part of three others in Southwest Colorado.

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