In this editorial series, I’m trying to share a complicated story about the current state of the Pagosa Springs community — once a struggling rural town built around ranching and sawmills, and now a struggling rural tourism-resort-retirement-community.
Unlike the Pagosa of 50 years ago, however, a large segment of the population lives rather comfortably.
Too comfortably?
Thus far, much of this story has centered on a presentation at the February 25 League of Women Voters (LWV) meeting, on the topic of Archuleta County’s housing crisis. But we have other issues here, as well.
In fact, the United States as a whole has many of the same issues, and LWVUS (League of Women Voters National Organization) summarized key issues in a recent announcement about their upcoming National Convention scheduled for June 25-28 in Columbus, Ohio.
Below is a sampling of just a few of the issues that a smart voter might be concerned about, extracted from a longer list (60 items) found in a LWV 2026 Conference survey:
14. Which League Positions does your League use to act at the state and local level? Please check all that apply, and include information on your work on the 2024-2026 program ‘Making Democracy Work’.
Citizen’s Right to Vote
Apportionment
Redistricting
Money in Politics (Formerly Campaign Finance)
Selection of the President
Voter Representation/Electoral Systems
Citizen’s Right to Know/Citizen Participation
Constitutional Amendment Proposals
Individual Liberties
Public Policy on Reproductive Choices
The Federal Judiciary
Privatization
Digital Equity
Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy…
Of that selection, above, only the “Decline of Local News” seems especially pertinent to Archuleta County.
But the 60-item list did contain a few items we’ve been discussing here in the Daily Post in recent months:
Natural Resources
Transfer of Federal Public Lands
Solid Waste
Climate Change
Water Resources
Public Participation
Agriculture Policies
Employment
Education
Health Care
Immigration
Housing Supply
Child Care
Gun Policy
We also have our own list of local concerns that the National LWV folks may not have heard about:
Road & Bridge Maintenance
Excessive Tourism
Steadily Increasing Fees & Taxes
School Maintenance Backlog
Impacts to Parks & Trails
Shortage of Willing or Qualified Employees
Some of those local concerns have been discussed recently by the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners and by the Pagosa Springs Town Council, and by other local government districts.
In fact, a couple of those very issues are scheduled to be discussed at an upcoming ‘Interactive Community Forum” scheduled for Wednesday, March 25 at the Springs Resort Ponderosa Meeting Room, hosted by County Commissioner John Ranson.
The announcement for this event on the Archuleta County website did not mention all of the local concerns mentioned above. In particular, the announcement did not mention Child Care, Housing, Road & Bridge Maintenance, School Maintenance Backlog, Excessive Tourism, Impacts to Parks & Trails, or the Shortage of Willing or Qualified Employees.
But the announcement did mention ‘Lodging Tax’, ‘Community Plan’ and ‘Water Concerns’. The meeting will also feature a summary of the citizen input from the February 17 ‘Interactive Community Forum’.
The ‘Lodging Tax’ item will no doubt address the potential to increase the tax paid by visitors when they book lodging within the unincorporated part of the community — which means, mainly, in vacation rentals. At the February 17 meeting, the overwhelming input from the participants urged an increase of the tax to 6%, which is the maximum allowed in statutory counties under state law, and suggested that the increased revenues should be used mainly for Road & Bridge Maintenance. Housing was the second choice for preferred use of any increased Lodging Taxes.
The ‘Community Plan’ item relates to the fact that Archuleta County is required, by state law, to update its comprehensive plan by the end of December. Typically, a government holds feedback sessions as part of a comprehensive plan update, and typically, nearly everyone who participates is a retiree or business owner or government employee. Which is to suggest that the input may or may not reflect the desires of the larger community.
Then we come to an interesting item.
Water Concerns
We have a three water-related districts in Archuleta County. The Archuleta County government is not, however, one of them. But the state legislators decided, in 2024, that updated county comprehensive plans now need to include a chapter on water resources.
Here are the districts that provide water in Archuleta County. They also provide certain other services:
Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District, annual budget (all services) $24.7 million
Aspen Springs Metro District, annual budget (all services) $477,000
San Juan River Village Metro District, annual budget (all services) $90,000
Piedra Park Metro District (Arboles), annual budget (all services) $45,000
Disclosure: I currently serve as a volunteer Board member for the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD), but this editorial reflects only my own opinions, and not necessarily those of the PAWSD Board or PAWSD staff.
The existing 2017 Archuleta County Community Plan (which you can download here) mentions water resources in a global sense, without getting too specific. For example:
Policy 2.3 – Water conservation should be used in new residential and commercial development.
Action Items:
2.3.1. Encourage water districts to develop incentives for water conservation.
2.3.2. In cooperation, the water districts, the County and the Town should appoint a committee to evaluate and recommend the most appropriate water conservation techniques.
2.3.3. Develop a public education program to encourage the widespread use of water conservation measures and devices.
2.3.4 Evaluate and implement appropriate action items from Colorado’s Water Plan.
I don’t believe the County has taken any of these generally-applicable actions since 2017. Perhaps they should have? Or perhaps our water districts have been doing these things without needing the County’s encouragement?
There are a few specific mentions in the 2017 Plan. Here’s an excerpt from the summary of PAWSD services:
The PAWSD water service area currently exceeds 76 square miles, including the original District boundary and multiple additions, including the Town of Pagosa Springs. Currently, as of mid-2017, PAWSD has 5,664 water service connections. There are 5,274 undeveloped properties within the District boundaries that PAWSD has commitments to serve as they are developed…
From this summary we can estimate that, as of 2017, about half the properties within the PAWSD district have been built upon since the district was created in the 1970s. Likely, some of the remaining properties are not buildable or at least problematic. Based on population growth over the past 20 years, PAWSD estimates growth at about 2% per year. At that rate, it will take about 50 years for the number of customers to double.
Can an ‘Interactive Community Forum’ of ordinary citizens — lasting maybe two hours — provide valuable information about “Water Concerns”?
Or should the County get its information from the folks who actually provide water?