As the village of Chama, New Mexico struggles to get its water system repaired, the nearby community of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, is lending a hand.
This press release from Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) manager Justin Ramsey, was received yesterday afternoon:
Due to a pipeline break and operator issues the community of Chama New Mexico is suffering a severe water issue. The state of New Mexico has declared a state of emergency due to this predicament. The Chama community has asked for our help to provide some relief to this dire situation. The Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) has agreed to provide Chama with temporary emergency water.
This may appear imprudent on PAWSD’s part due to our own drought concerns. However, PAWSD has developed a plan allowing 6,000 gallon tanker trucks to use uptown fill stations with water coming from our San Juan Water Treatment Plant to transport up to 150,000 gallons per day to Chama. Using these fill stations and water from the San Juan Water Treatment Plant has the lowest impact on our water reserves.
PAWSD realizes that filling these tanker trucks may cause extended wait times at the fill stations and thus asks for patience as we aid our neighbors to the south.
Chama has been without water since June 10, following a pipeline break. A news release from the New Mexico Environment Department said the effort to locate the break was aided by aerial flyovers from a contractor, KCSI Aerial Patrol, Inc., which used special technology to help identify the leak’s location.
The emergency has impacted both residents and the town’s tourism economy. Here’s an excerpt from a press release from the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad, one of the main tourist attractions in the village.
With bells clanging, whistles blowing & clouds of steam billowing, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TSRR) will launch its 2022 season on Friday, July 1, 2022.
Originally scheduled to open on June 11, the railroad postponed its opening due to extremely dry conditions. Friday marks the return of seasonal train service, which is of vital importance to the economies of Antonito, Colo. and Chama, NM.
Governor Lujan Grisham will visit the Chama Depot and Yards prior to departure to help welcome the season after the delay.
Reporter Robert Nott, writing for The Santa Fe New Mexican, published the following on June 26:
First there was the pandemic.
Then the windstorm that brought down the power lines earlier this year, depriving the village of Chama of light and warmth.
Then, last Monday, when residents turned on their sink faucets, there was another surprise.
Nothing came out.
Chama was out of water.
By late Friday, as news seeped out that repairs had finally been made on Chama’s troubled water system — a line leak that contributed to this community of 1,000 drying up for several days — many here breathed a sigh of relief, both for the resolution of the crisis and their ability to stick together.
Some even said life without water wasn’t so much a personal sacrifice as a call to making sure their neighbors stayed whole.
“Mostly it’s annoying,” said teen Marcelo Baeza as he paused from a game of basketball with some of his friends Friday. “You have to carry a lot of five-gallon jugs.”
He said that’s because “we have to help our grandma and grandpa.”
Residents here say the small Rio Arriba County town near the Colorado border comes together when times are tough. It’s a place where family and friends look out for one another when it comes to contending with challenges that affect the community.
“We’re Chama, New Mexico,” Baeza said. “We always get through it.”
Sometimes, however, it helps to have a nearby community, like Pagosa Springs, willing to share some precious water.