The Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) Board of Directors approved letters of support for grant applications by the San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership (SJHFHP) and the Upper San Juan Watershed Enhancement Partnership (WEP) at its May 14 meeting.
Matt Ford represented the SJHFHP at the meeting, and Danyelle Leentjes represented WEP.
Ford opened his presentation by thanking PAWSD for its previous support of the SJHFHP and explaining that the SJHFHP is fiscally supported by WEP.
He stated that the organization is working on developing a Wildfire Ready Action Plan (WRAP), which will help identify where post-fire impacts are likely to occur and where wildfire prevention projects might be most effective.
The grant funding for the WRAP would be supplied by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) through a Water Plan Grant, according to documentation in the board packet for the meeting.
Ford indicated that the WRAP would cover significant portions of the watersheds that PAWSD draws water from.
He stated that the WRAP would cost between $366,000 and $400,000, 75 percent of which would be paid for by the Water Plan Grant.
PAWSD board chairman Gene Tautges noted that the area covered by the WRAP includes the San Juan River watershed but does not include the Piedra River watershed and asked why this is so.
Ford explained that the decision was partially due to financial constraints on the project and that the Piedra drainage would open up a “huge” area for analysis, raising the costs, and would contain fewer key assets for the community.
“This was the biggest chunk we thought we could get our arms around from a dollars and cents perspective that also overlapped with values at risk,” Ford said.
Ford indicated that the WRAP would help identify key water and agricultural infrastructure, roads and trails that might be at risk from wildfires, as well as helping increase coordination among emergency managers and allocate resources to impactful projects.
He stated that the high cost is due to the variety of types of modeling included in the study, including modeling of fire severity and how fire would impact the hydrology of specific watersheds.
Ford noted that the funding would also help build justification and documentation for pre-fire projects and help stakeholders seek grant funding for them.
He added that it would also likely help provide documentation needed to receive Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for recovery projects post-fire.
Ford added that, according to post-fire studies in Flagstaff, Ariz., $1 spent on preparation saves $7 in total fire costs.
He noted that regional fires have also caused high costs for local organizations and economic losses.
Ford explained that he was requesting a letter of support for the Water Plan Grant application and a letter of support for a $50,000 Nature Conservancy grant the organizations are applying for that will help cover the match for the CWCB grant.
He added that he would also like to meet with PAWSD staff to talk about projects that could be included in the WRAP and that could gain additional justification and support through the planning process.
Ford stated that he would also potentially be seeking matching funds from PAWSD in the 2027 budget year to help support the WRAP grant, although he noted that the organizations are prioritizing obtaining other grant funding to satisfy the matching requirements.
Tautges commented that a letter of support would be a “no-brainer” and that he would like to direct staff to prepare one.
The group then discussed the proper format for the letters of support, with Leentjes stating that she prepared templates for the individual letters to both the CWCB and the Nature Conservancy, which PAWSD staff agreed to sign off on and submit.
In response to a question from Tautges, PAWSD District Engineer Justin Ramsey indicated that working with the SJHFHP has been highly beneficial to the district, such as a thinning project promoted by the organization that helped protect the district’s water diversion in the Plumtaw area.
Ramsey indicated that the district has previously provided $7,000 in support to the SJHFHP each year and that the 2026 budget also includes this funding.
Tautges indicated that he is hesitant about providing this funding due to PAWSD’s budgetary issues.
Ford commented that he is concerned that the SJHFHP needs the baseline funding that PAWSD has previously provided for operations and that supporting the WRAP would be above this.
He added that the SJHFHP would potentially request $10,000 in additional funding for the WRAP from PAWSD, which would match its requests to other entities like the Town of Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County.
However, he added that the grants the organization is seeking might reduce the amount of matching funding requested.
josh@pagosasun.com
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