The Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) Board of Directors heard an update on drought conditions and continued discussions of violation enforcement at its Aug. 13 meeting.
The board previously discussed violation enforcement at its July 30 meeting, where staff presented proposed letters to be sent to customers who violate drought restrictions and an associated scheme of fines.
The board tabled the issue to further review the letters and discussed implementing fines if the district reaches drought stage three.
PAWSD is currently in drought stage two of its four-stage drought management plan.
PAWSD District Manager Andrew Connor stated that PAWSD currently has “really good compliance” and saw a drop in water sales in July, meaning that public education is working, even if revenues for the district also decreased.
He asked if the board still wanted to delay imposing fines for violations until the district reaches drought stage three.
Connor added that, if this direction was chosen, staff would continue calling any reported violators and proceeding from that call instead of going into the violation system.
PAWSD board chairman Gene Tautges commented that he prefers the phone call system since the district is getting compliance from customers violating the restrictions once it notifies them.
He added that he knew Connor was going to discuss getting permission to reduce the drought restrictions later in a later portion of the meeting.
“I think a conversation and some education is a good starting point,” Connor said.
PAWSD board member Glenn Walsh asked if the revenue decrease from lowered water use in July was compensated for by surcharges for high water use, which staff confirmed.
PAWSD board member Alex Boehmer commented that, since the district is getting compliance with its regulations, he did not think implementing violation letters and fines is necessary.
He added that he would also like to authorize Connor to move the district in and out of drought stages when necessary.
Tautges commented that he would only want this authorization for reducing the drought stage and not for increasing it, which should require a board vote.
Boehmer stated that, since the district was looking at reducing the drought stage and there is further rain forecasted in the future, he would support authorizing Connor to change the drought stage.
PAWSD board member Bruce Jones asked if the fines for violations are based on something.
Connor replied that they are based on a table of noncompliance fines included in the district’s drought management plan.
Jones commented that fines would become more enforceable in drought stage three, although he also would be comfortable implementing fines on customers who do not comply with restrictions after being informed about them in drought stage two.
He added that, since these are reports by neighbors, PAWSD should also work to honor the effort of the people who take the time to report violations.
Connor commented that the district needs concrete evidence of violations to start imposing fines.
Later in the meeting, he provided an update on conditions in Hatcher Lake, one of PAWSD’s primary water sources, which he stated only dropped 1 inch since Monday Aug. 10 and was now 32.75 inches below full pool.
“So, we’re doing good,” he said. “The staff has worked extremely hard this year to try and save that water. Hatcher is absolutely the top priority, keep that lake as full as possible, and thank goodness for the little bit of rains we’ve been getting.”
He added that the district is consistently seeing a drop of between 100,000 and 150,000 gallons of water demand on days with rain.
On Aug. 25, PAWSD District Engineer Justin Ramsey provided another update on conditions in Hatcher and the San Juan River, indicating that Hatcher is currently 36 inches below full pool and that average flows in the San Juan River as of 9 a.m. Aug. 25 are 23.4 cubic feet per second (cfs).
He added that median flows for the river for Aug. 25 are 120 cfs.
josh@pagosasun.com
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