Day: September 17, 2024

#PagosaSprings loans its sanitation $500,000 for critical sewer system repairs — The Pagosa Springs Sun #SanJuanRiver

Click the link to read the article on the Pagosa Springs Sun website (Derek Kutzer). Here’s an excerpt:

On September 3, 2024 the board of the Pagosa Springs Sanitation General Improve- ment District (PSSGID) voted to move $500,000 from town funds to kick-start critical repairs on its sewer system, pushing off a bigger decision on financing for a larger overhaul of the system. Public Works Director Karl Johnson said that he fears a “catastrophic event” could be in the cards if the district doesn’t do something now to shore up the system.

Town Manager David Harris added, “We need to get moving here … and we need to move sooner rather than later.”

Johnson explained to the board that the biggest project on the district’s radar would be to continue repairing what has been deemed category 4 and 5 problems with sewer pipes, as well as its obligation to upgrade the Vista Treatment Plant, owned and operated by the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD), to bring it into compliance with state Regulation 85.

Navajo Dam operations update: Bumping down to 700 cfs September 17, 2024 #SanJuanRiver

Navajo Dam spillway via Reclamation.

From email from the Reclamation Western Colorado Area Office:

With a wetter weather pattern and increasing forecast flows downstream, the Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled a decrease in the release from Navajo Dam from 800 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 700 cfs for Tuesday, September 17th, at 4:00 AM.

Releases are made for the authorized purposes of the Navajo Unit, and to attempt to maintain a target base flow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach of the San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell).  The San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program recommends a target base flow of between 500 cfs and 1,000 cfs through the critical habitat area.  The target base flow is calculated as the weekly average of gaged flows throughout the critical habitat area from Farmington to Lake Powell.  

This scheduled release change is subject to changes in river flows and weather conditions.  If you have any questions, please reply to this message, call 970-385-6560, or visit Reclamation’s Navajo Dam website at https://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/crsp/cs/nvd.html.