Water makes up 60-75% of human body weight. A loss of just 4% of total body water leads to dehydration, and a loss of 15% can be fatal. Aliong those same lines, a person can survive a month without food but is unlikely to survive three days without water. This crucial dependence on water broadly governs all life forms.
This is according to Havard University.
Nearly all the water consumed in the American West, however, goes to food production. Or to irrigate lawns, or athletic fields, or golf courses.
A couple of years ago, when I was serving on the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) board of directors, I wrote some Daily Post editorials about water in Colorado — a rather hot topic these days, for a number of reasons — and had the audacity to include some information (and opinions) about SJWCD.
Certain of my fellow board members were not happy that their district’s activities were being discussed in the Daily Post. So we worked out a policy that the board found satisfactory. The policy stated, in part:
4. That whenever feasible, a Director who is writing or speaking on topics that could reflect on the District, clarify that he or she is not speaking on behalf of the Board and that his or her views do not necessarily represent those of the Board or its other Directors.
Seems like a simple enough policy. But not always followed, these days.
Rod Proffitt was recently appointed to the SJWCD board of directors. Prior to his appointment, he regularly posted opinions on his Facebook account, indicating his disapproval of local press coverage when it failed to align with his own beliefs.
One such opinion appeared on his Facebook page last week, attacking the PAWSD board of directors and the reporters at the Pagosa Springs SUN. His comments concerned the February 9 PAWSD board meeting… and SUN article about that meeting, published on February 23.
The rant does not appear to align with the SJWCD board policy.
“Just read the [Pagosa Springs SUN] article on the PAWSD meeting. It is the furthest thing from responsible journalism to give the worst among us a forum that misleads the public…”
Rod Proffitt served for several years as the SJWCD President, until 2018, when he resigned from the board… following revelations, in the local press, that SJWCD had been paying him to promote the Dry Gulch Reservoir Project, in violation of his Oath of Office. He requested re-appointment last year, and for some reason, District Court Judge Jeffrey Wilson thought it appropriate to put him back on the board.
In my humble opinion, when Mr. Proffitt refers to the volunteers serving on the PAWSD board as “the worst among us”, he comes from the curious position of having collected a taxpayer-funded salary, after swearing an oath to serve purely as a volunteer on the SJWCD board.
His recent Facebook rant appears to violate an adopted SJWCD board policy, because it failed to include a disclaimer. Additionally, the posting is disrespectful and misleading… while the SUN article to which Mr. Proffitt refers — written by reporter Josh Pike — is quite the opposite: respectful, and accurate.
Disclosure: I currently serve on the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District Board, which is under contract to cooperate with SJWCD on planning for a future Dry Gulch Reservoir. This editorial reflects only my own opinions, and not necessarily those of the PAWSD Board as a whole.
The questions discussed during the February 9 PAWSD board meeting are important ones. Our local governments typically make an effort to look into the future, and prepare themselves for changes — to the economy, and to community demographics — that might cause challenges or problems. The February 9 meeting, for example, included a discussion about a 20-year capital improvement and maintenance plan for PAWSD, looking at the work that will likely be needed over the next couple of decades, assuming that Archuleta County will grow and develop. Those upgrades and maintenance tasks do not include — in the judgement of the current PAWSD staff and board — an 11,000 acre-foot reservoir at Dry Gulch.
Mr. Proffitt, meanwhile, is a big fan of an 11,000 acre-foot reservoir at Dry Gulch, even if a majority of local taxpayers are not.
One thing I find particularly troubling, about Mr. Proffitt’s rant, is his claim that “PAWSD has suppressed information on water needs of this community…”
In fact, PAWSD distributes a weekly public service announcement to the local media — yes, weekly — that shares the water-related statistics including water diverted, the levels of our numerous water reservoirs, and the production of treated water. During the winter months, those weekly reports typically include information about the snow pack in the San Juan Mountains.
In my 18 years of publishing the Daily Post, I cannot recall getting a single press release from SJWCD that purported to address, in a statistically valid manner, the water needs in our community.
Additionally, PAWSD recently published an updated version of its Drought Management Plan, which includes extensive information about the community’s water needs, and current PAWSD policies for addressing drought situations, should they occur.
On March 9, the PAWSD board is scheduled to meet jointly with the SJWCD board — our contractual partners in developing a future reservoir at Dry Gulch, should the need for such a thing become evident. The meeting will take place at the PAWSD offices at 4pm.
Hopefully, we will be able to avoid disrespectful behavior and name-calling during the meeting, even if “the worst among us” are in attendance.
Leading up to that March 9 meeting, however, I’d like to share some quotes from a couple of recent Pagosa Springs SUN articles… which were accurate, and respectful, and informative, but which might benefit from a bit of clarification.