The Board of Directors of Pagosa’s two water district — the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) and Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) — will meet for a joint work session tomorrow, Tuesday, November 15 at 2:00pm. The public is invited to attend.
Disclosure: I currently serve on the PAWSD Board of Directors. This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of that board.
The meeting will be held at the PAWSD office at 100 Lyn Ave. The two Boards will be discussing and sharing documents related to a proposed extension of the Weber family mining and ranching lease on the publicly-owned Running Iron Ranch, northeast of downtown Pagosa Springs.
The 660-acre ranch was purchased from the Weber family in 2008, as the future site for the proposed (and controversial) Dry Gulch Reservoir, now referred to, by SJWCD, as the ‘San Juan River Headwaters Project’. As part of the 2008 purchase agreement, the Weber family was granted four leases — at a cost of $1 per year — to mine and crush gravel on the ranch, and to graze cattle.
The $10 million ranch purchase was funded mainly with new revenue debt saddled on PAWSD water customers. SJWCD received a $1 million grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board which was applied to the purchase, but the obligations connected with that grant have since been assumed by PAWSD. Meanwhile, management of the property has been formally assumed by SJWCD.
The two water district have been in disagreement about the need for the reservoir since about 2011, when the PAWSD Board removed the project from its long-range planning documents.
At a PAWSD board meeting earlier this month, residents of Log Park — a small wooded and secluded subdivision adjacent to the gravel mining operation — appeared at the meeting to protest the lease extension, due to the impacts of noise and dust caused by the gravel mining.
This meeting is in-person, but may be attended by Zoom. PAWSD provided this Zoom link for the Special Joint Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85854531168?pwd=TDFMMW4xTU9kNWQzME5DZVk1MGVVZz09
For questions about how to participate by Zoom, please contact SJWCD President and Chairman, Al Pfister at 970-985-5764 or apfister.sjwcd@gmail.com
Proposed Agenda for Special Joint Meeting is as follows:
1. Call to Order
2. Revisions to Agenda
3. Disclosures of Conflict of Interest
4. Public Comment
5. Consideration of Running Iron Ranch Lease Extension
6. Discussion of San Juan Headwaters Project
10. Consideration of Executive Session Pursuant to C.R.S. § 24-6-402(4)(b) for the purpose receiving legal advice on specific legal questions regarding Consideration of Running Iron Ranch Lease Extension and Discussion of San Juan Headwaters Project.