Title: A dam's 'painful' history - New Mexico In Depth
Headings: A dam’s ‘painful’ history
Economy
A dam’s ‘painful’ history
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About Laura Paskus, New Mexico In Depth

Content: Without a clearly articulated vision, the proposed development tore apart our once tightly knit village. It caused a great deal of divisiveness that no economic development benefit could ever make up for. This all led up to the classic story about brother against brother, brother against sister, and father against grandfather. It was a very painful part of our experience. I can remember discussions between my father and my grandfather about what was to happen to our little community of less than 1,000 people. And I imagine that in every other home similar discussions were taking place with respect to resisting the development and construction of the reservoir to be known as Cochiti Lake and those advocating for the development producing incredible pain internally in our community.” The tribe was able to block the development plans. In the 1980s, it acquired the town and in the 1990s it created the Cochiti Community Development Corporation. According to the town’s website, it today hosts about 400 residents. In recent decades, the Army Corps of Engineers and the tribal government have come to terms with their shared history over the dam, and are trying to understand more about the impacts the dam has had on the pueblo.