PAWSD directors updated on water loss, consider draft budget

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By Lindsey Bright

Staff Writer

The Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District is moving toward a solution for water loss, but it is a long road.

During the Oct. 9 board of directors meeting, unaccounted-for water loss was reported to be 15 million gallons for the month of September. This may be interpreted as a 512,000-gallon unaccounted-for water loss per day, or 356 gallons of unaccounted-for water lost each hour. This number is up roughly 4 million gallons from August’s mark.

PAWSD manager Ed Winton said this increase was expected to take place following installation of monitors at PAWSD water treatment facilities. There is still one more meter that needs to be installed. After that, PAWSD officials will have a better idea of actual treated and distributed water, and thus a more accurate amount of the gallons of unaccounted-for water.

At the meeting, the PAWSD board members also unanimously approved implementation of a Hold Harmless Agreement. The agreement will enable PAWSD to turn on a customer’s water without someone being present on the property.

The board also voted unanimously to renew the district’s contract with Hart Construction, which designates Hart Construction as the 2013 contractor for PAWSD. This is the last year this contract may be extended in this fashion. Next year, the contract must be bid out.

During the meeting, the board reviewed the 2013 draft proposed budget for the first time during a regular meeting. This was an initial discussion on the budget, and no action was taken.

The General Fund total revenue in the 2013 draft proposed budget is $968,490, down from $991,102 in 2012.

The total expenditures in the draft budget is $1.3 million, up from $1.25 million in 2012. This increase is due to several incremental climbs in a variety of line items as well as the addition of three line items: Transportation Equipment, $18,000; Office and Administration Equipment, $11,500; and Administrative Building Remodel/SCAN Network, $50,433.

In the Water Enterprise Fund, the total budgeted revenue for 2013 is $4.54 million, down from $4.7 million in 2012. The total expense for Work in Progress in 2013 is $1.3 million, up approximately $500,000 from 2012. The areas where it increases most are: reservoirs/watersheds, $220,000; water treatment plant upgrade, $75,000; and distribution system upgrades, $703,772.

Total maintenance is proposed to be $151,959 in 2013, and total administration is proposed to be budgeted at $371,691.

Debt Retirement and Transfers is $1.07 million.

In the Wastewater Enterprise fund, the total revenue for 2013 is budgeted at $2.2 million, down nearly half from $4.1 million of the 2012 amended budget.

The biggest increase for the Wastewater Enterprise is in the Work in Progress category, where the Pagosa Springs Sanitation General Improvement District Pumping Project is budgeted at $1.24 million.

Total Wastewater Treatment for 2013 is budgeted at $401,000 with the biggest increase seen in line item Operator Salaries, rising to $82,623 from $38,200.

Total WasteWater Maintenance is budgeted at $73,444 for 2012, only a slight increase from the $68,946 in the 2012 amended budget.

This is only a draft budget. There will be several more work sessions and regular meetings before the final budget is approved in December.

lindsey@pagosasun.com