From The Durango Herald (Ann Butler):
“We have a very singular opportunity for us to finance a significant amount of the project,” La Plata West Water Authority Board President Roy Horvath told the more than 60 attendees at an informational meeting Thursday. “The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) has $3.4 billion in rural development funding to spend across the whole nation. Normally, the USDA only has $6 million to $8 million for the whole state of Colorado.” It was the third such meeting in three weeks. More than 70 people attended the first meeting, and about 35 went to the second. Questions ranged from timing to the status of current and planned wells.
The answers: The earliest water could be available is within 2½ to three years. Current wells are grandfathered in, and new wells would require approval by the board and the Colorado Division of Water Resources, but the board couldn’t imagine the circumstances where it wouldn’t grant approval. Horvath said this is far different from the original plan to bring in irrigation water from Lake Nighthorse. “All we have access to is water for domestic use,” he said about A-LP. “It’s not meant for production-scale agriculture.” But in a part of the county where many residents truck in their drinking water, that sounds good enough. More than 200 property owners already have made a commitment of $500 per tap desired to demonstrate community interest to the USDA. This series of open houses is an attempt to encourage more to commit. The commitments also allow the board to determine what areas the system would serve based on clusters of interest…
The La Plata West Water Authority has scheduled an additional meeting about the effort to bring drinking water to western La Plata County. It will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School, 11274, Colorado Highway 140.
Further information, a map of the proposed service area and a copy of a user-comment form are available by calling 385-2340. Information about the project and copies of the project-commitment letter are available at www.lpwwa.org.
More San Juan Basin coverage here.