dry-gulch, verb
1.to ambush with the intent of killing or severely mauling: ‘The riders were dry-gulched by bandits.’
2. to betray by a sudden change of attitude or allegiance: ‘The party dry-gulched its chief candidate at the convention.’
At their meeting yesterday, March 20, the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) board heard from ‘Southwest & Rio Grande Basins Water Plan Grant Project Manager’ Laura Spann, concerning available grants for three ‘strategic’ priorities… the future construction of a reservoir at Dry Gulch; research into alternative (non-reservoir) ways to enhance local water resources; and educating adults and students about water.
Three key priorities.
The SJWCD board also voted to endorse the application of two new prospective board members, Robert Hagberg and Chuck Riehm.
We also heard from media consultant Kim Elzinga, who will be writing informational news articles on behalf of the board this year.
Some of the articles may involve Dry Gulch?
We’ve often discussed the controversial Dry Gulch Reservoir in the Daily Post. Back in 2008, for example, Daily Post columnist Glenn Walsh — in the article “Fred’s Fraud” — discussed the activities of the chief architect of the Dry Gulch project, former SJWCD president Fred Schmidt. And in 2017, I discussed the project in an editorial. One of many editorials.
SJWCD prefers to refer to the proposed reservoir as the San Juan River Headwaters Project, although the water rights decrees related to the project specifically use the name “Dry Gulch”.
The question of providing funding for the proposed reservoir was placed before the SJWCD taxpayers twice, in 2004 and 2017. On both occasions, the voters responded, “No, thank you.”
Nevertheless, the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) and SJWCD cooperated on the purchase of the Running Iron Ranch in 2008, for $10 million, based on a promise that PAWSD customers would pay off the loan.
The PAWSD customers were never consulted on the purchase, nor on the resulting debt obligations.
This exposed the PAWSD board to criticism from an unhappy community, including business owners, realtors, and construction companies.
In 2010, in an effort to get ‘buy-in’ from the community, PAWSD assembled a taxpayer task force — the Water Supply Community Work Group — to study the Dry Gulch project and give their stamp of approval. The work group studied the data for a year and then published a report (which you can download here) stating that the community had no need for a Dry Gulch reservoir, within the foreseeable future.
The PAWSD board eventually acknowledged the public’s desires, and pulled the Dry Gulch Reservoir off its 20-year capital improvement plan.
SJWCD has never acknowledged the Water Supply Community Work Group’s conclusions, nor (in my humble opinion) has SJWCD fully accepted the 2004 and 2017 votes where the taxpayers said “No” to funding a reservoir at Dry Gulch.
PAWSD is still paying off the Dry Gulch loan, as agreed in a three-way agreement with SJWCD and the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). The Running Iron Ranch still belongs to the PAWSD taxpayers.
SJWCD is still trying to figure out a way to build a reservoir that the taxpayers have rejected twice.
One of the primary steps in getting a reservoir built is convincing someone — someone with a lot of money — that it’s a good idea. Since 2010, it’s been pretty obvious that the ‘someone’ is not going to be PAWSD.
So SJWCD has been hoping for someone else with money.
Disclosure: I currently serve on the PAWSD board of directors, but this editorial series reflects only my personal opinions and not necessarily the opinions of the PAWSD board as a whole.
I shared a letter yesterday in Part Two, that SJWCD was planning to send to the Southern Ute Tribal Council. The letter was modified ever so slightly at last night’s meeting, and I believe this is the approximate text of the approved letter:
Dear Chairman Baker,
I am writing on behalf of the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) to inform you and the Tribal Council of activities we are pursuing that we hope will enhance water availability in the Upper San Juan River, not only for residents of our District but also for downstream users. We are planning these activities in anticipation of a future warming and drying climate.
We recently met with staff from your Water Resources Division to initiate discussions on activities we are planning that may benefit the Southern Ute Reservation and its members. Our discussions focused mainly on SJWCD efforts in developing a reservoir upstream of Pagosa Springs (San Juan Headwaters Project). At the conclusion of our meeting, both parties agreed that we could each benefit from partnering to enhance water availability in the San Juan River. The specifics of such efforts would be determined as a result of future discussions. We believe such a partnership would benefit the agricultural, environmental, municipal, and recreational water users of our respective communities.
To facilitate additional discussion amongst the Southern Ute Tribe and the SJWCD, we would like to set up a meeting with the Tribal Council to outline our efforts, and discuss potential collective efforts that we could undertake to benefit our water users. Please contact me at apfister.sjwcd@gmail.com, or (970)985-5764, to set up a meeting at your convenience.
Allan (Al) Pfister
San Juan Water Conservancy District, President/Chair
I have a problem — personally — with this letter to the Southern Utes, and I expressed my concerns to the SJWCD board at last night’s meeting. The SJWCD board apparently thought my concerns were unimportant.
The letter specifically mentions a possible future ‘partnership’ with the Southern Utes. No problem there. But you will also notice that, although the Running Iron Ranch belongs to PAWSD, and although PAWSD customers are playing off the $10 million debt, and although PAWSD has the sole legal right to sell the property… the letter SJWCD decided to send to the Southern Ute Tribal Council makes absolutely no mention of PAWSD, or of PAWSD’s ownership of the land.
I was married, once upon a time, and my wife and I were also business partners.
In my experience, the worst thing you can do to a partner is to act as if they don’t exist.