Site of the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) drinking water diversion on Fourmile Creek.
Heavy rain began arriving in downtown Pagosa Springs at about 1:15pm yesterday. The National Weather Service has issue a ‘flood watch’ warning through Friday morning. Lately in southwestern Colorado, it seems like we have either too little water, or too much water.
What does this mean for the folks who lead our local government districts?
On Tuesday evening, during a lengthy 4-hour meeting, the seven-member Pagosa Springs Town Council approved, with a 5-2 vote, the ‘first reading’ of a Planned Development Agreement for ‘Ponderosa Mountain’… a 70-acre subdivision adjacent to the Great West Avenue-Highway 160 intersection. At the approved residential density of 12 dwelling units per acre, the subdivision could, if fully built out, add 1,000 to 1,200 new residents to the town’s current population of 1,900.
Or, looked at from a different angle, 1,000 to 1,200 more residents, added to the county’s population of about 14,300 people.
It became clear during the discussion on Tuesday, however, that the new homes would be marketed mainly to second-home buyers.
What is less clear is why a thoughtful Town Council would want to approve a subdivision designed to make the community’s already-serious housing crisis worse.
Or why two of our local affordable housing experts urged approval of the subdivision plan.
During the Council discussion, the agency known as PAWSD was referenced several times, because the developers — Los-Angeles-based Modern Community Builders LLC — have not yet obtained a quote from PAWSD for the cost of infrastructure improvements that might be required for the subdivision. Quotes from PAWSD and other utility providers will be required at the next step in the subdivision approval process, which is the ‘Preliminary Plan Approval’.
Disclosure: I currently serve as a volunteer member of the PAWSD Board of Directors, but this editorial reflects only my own opinions, and not the necessarily the opinions of the PAWSD Board or staff.
I’m mentioning this proposed subdivision because, a few weeks ago, the consultants who are updating the Archuleta County Comprehensive Plan convened a Zoom meeting, during which some local representatives gave input for the “water demand” chapter of the Comp Plan. Participants included PAWSD District Manager Andy Connor and a PAWSD Board member (me) along with a couple of board members from the San Juan Water Conservancy District, and a couple of members from the County Planning Commission.
This revised “water demand” chapter is due to be submitted to the state by December 31, 2026.
One of the questions posed by the consultants from HR Green:
“Where should future development take place in Archuleta County?”
Of course, the question could have been, “Should more development take place in Archuleta County?” But that wasn’t the question.
I suggested that PAWSD has nearly finished the new Snowball Water Treatment Plant northeast of the historic downtown core, and it will be able to deliver more than triple the amount of purified water that the old Snowball Plant was delivering. The fairly pristine raw water arrives at the plant from the West Fork of the San Juan River, and in theory, the new plant could supply enough treated water for the entire community.
If we’re thinking only of water supplies, it would make a certain kind of sense for future development in Archuleta County to take place at the east end of town, around the downtown core.
Which is where the proposed Ponderosa Mountain subdivision is located. In the downtown core.
In my opinion, PAWSD is capable of delivering enough water from the new Snowball Plant to serve several new subdivisions the size of Ponderosa Mountain, so long as they are located near the downtown core.
In my opinion, “water” is not a problem. Even during the historically severe drought during the first half of 2026, PAWSD never went passed ‘Drought Stage 2’. (The PAWSD Drought Management Plan addresses emergencies up to ‘Drought Stage 4’.) Customers were allowed to water their lawns all through the summer.
What is a serious problem is affordability.
Here’s Emily Lashbrooke, Executive Director for Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation, speaking to the Town Council on Tuesday during the hearing on the Ponderosa Mountain project.
“I just wanted to share a little economic data with you. I did a little research on the Lightcast Data website, that is reporting on the vacant jobs here in Archuleta County. Currently, right now, we have 1,276 unfilled jobs across the entire county. 60% of our employers are citing the lack of housing as the reason why they are so short in finding employees. 1,456 workers are commuting into Pagosa Springs on a regular basis, due to the lack of affordable housing.
“And then, 17% of the peak jobs during the summer went unfilled…
“In May, our unemployment rate was 2.6%, and I attribute some of the decline in our sales tax revenues to this situation. But the affordability issue in home ownership is the most important piece for us to solve.
“You know, from the [PSCDC housing effort] how difficult it is to address affordability. We are actually looking at the last 15 homes that PSCDC is going to build, and we haven’t even touched on the need that we have in this community. So we need some help bringing some housing here to be able to stabilize our economy…”
Of course, affordability is a much bigger issue than simply a shortage of reasonably-priced single-family homes for sale. A bigger issue is a shortage of apartments for rent. But we are also in a situation where the cost of utilities… and insurance… and health care… and gas… and food… and so many other necessary items… are driving working families to leave Archuleta County.
I’ve mentioned that the draft budget for PAWSD projects a 15% increase in monthly water and sewer fees. This is on top of similar PAWSD rate increases over each of the past three years.
Sadly, the Ponderosa Mountain project looks likely to make the housing problem worse… by building more high-end homes that workers cannot afford.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can't seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.