At a Jan. 29 meeting, the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) Board of Directors heard an update from District Engineer/Manager Justin Ramsey on the progress of remediation at the Running Iron Ranch and conditions at the site.
The ranch is jointly owned by PAWSD and the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD), who are currently engaged in litigation over if PAWSD has a right to sell the property despite the SJWCD’s opposition to a sale.
Although it was purchased as the site for a reservoir, which the SJWCD is in the process of planning and constructing, the site has primarily been leased to the Weber family, who owned it before the sale and who are engaged in gravel mining and cattle ranching on the property.
The Weber’s leases for mining and grazing have not been renewed in recent years by PAWSD or the SJWCD, and the Webers are in the process of vacating the property, including completing remediation on their gravel mining site.
Ramsey explained that he wanted to present a summary of the situation at the ranch to the board, which he had already presented to the members of the PAWSD board’s Running Iron Ranch subcommittee, which includes Bill Hudson and Alex Boehmer.
Ramsey stated that Andy Weber, the main operator of the gravel mining operation, is currently working on grading portions of the two pit areas to prevent erosion and seeding vegetation.
He explained that the remediation work on the north pit at the ranch is nearly done and that work on the south pit is also progressing and likely would have been done without heavy rain in October 2025, which inhibited the use of heavy equipment in the area.
Ramsey commented that, despite the project not being completed in 2025, Weber is making “significant progress.”
He stated that PAWSD is still getting calls complaining that the Webers are continuing to mine gravel due to equipment being parked in the area, but that this equipment is not mining equipment and no mining is taking place.
There is still gravel that needs to be moved by the south pit, Ramsey stated, with some of it slated for use at the Snowball water treatment plant construction project and the rest to be sold to PAWSD for about $30,000 and stored at the entrance of the ranch for future use.
Ramsey then shifted to discussing issues with the Park Ditch, which runs through Running Iron Ranch and would supply water to a future reservoir along with supplying irrigation water to several other ranches in the area.
He stated that Bob Formwalt, who is associated with the Park Ditch Company which runs and maintains the ditch, approached PAWSD board chairman Gene Tautges about two months before about issues connected to the reclamation and its impact on the ditch.
Ramsey explained that one issue is with a degraded culvert, which he noted is 30 years old, that carries the Park Ditch water under a road on the ranch which accesses the pit area.
He stated that the culvert was laid insufficiently deep and in a way where water has to go uphill to pass through it, leading to ditch water slowing down and depositing sediment above the culvert.
Ramsey stated that the ditch company is cleaning the culvert twice a year to mitigate slowdown, but still believes that it cannot get its full volume of water through the culvert even when clean and wants the Webers to replace the culvert.
He explained that there are multiple ways to fix the issue, including re-laying the culvert at the proper depth and angle and rebuilding the road above it, but that Weber wants to simply remove the culvert and create a channel, which would block the road.
Ramsey commented that this would be a “terrible idea” as the road adds value to the ranch.
He added that replacing the culvert would cost between $24,000 and $30,000 while creating a channel would likely cost “a couple thousand” dollars.
Ramsey noted that PAWSD has discussed keeping the road after reclamation with the state due to its value, but that, if the road is going to be blocked by channel creation, PAWSD should ask Weber to also reclaim the road.
Following a brief discussion of other issues with the Park Ditch outside the ranch, Ramsey explained the other issue on the ranch: a piece of pipeline which the ditch water flows through that is slowly being exposed due to erosion from a steep drainage it crosses.
He stated that the exposed pipeline will eventually be undercut by the erosion and failing, causing a flood of water down the drainage, which he said would be “catastrophic.”
Tautges speculated that the owner of the ranch would likely be paying their portion of the repairs, which could go into the “tens of hundreds of thousand dollars.”
Ramsey replied that he was unsure how this would be decided or what would occur if the Webers and the ditch company cannot reach an agreement.
He added that the process is being impeded by the fact that many of the participants in the issue are “good ol’ boy ranchers”who decide issues at the local bar and do not make formal contracts.
Ramsey commented that he is encouraging the ditch company to write a formal letter to the Webers about the issue and that they can then provide a formal reply.
“They need to write this [expletive] down,” Ramsey said.
PAWSD board member Glenn Walsh commented that this is possible that this is a “ditch issue” and that a variety of grievances could be being brought up due to the new owners being “less ornery.”
Ramsey stated that the ditch company had not asked PAWSD to fix the issue, but had asked PAWSD to “lean on the Webers” to fix the issue, although he was attempting to avoid getting deeply engaged in the issue.
Tautges asked if the SJWCD is aware of the issues.
“Beats the hell out of me,” Ramsey replied.
Walsh commented that issues like this are part of why PAWSD wants to sell the ranch.
Ramsey added that Weber appears to have done a good job of maintaining the historical flow patterns and preventing impacts from the mining on the flows, judging from historical maps.
He added that the elements of the north mining pit could discharge runoff into the drainage with the compromised pipe, but that it appears the current system of ditches and retention basins is successfully preventing this from happening.
Ramsey explained that fixing the pipe issue would require adding additional material on a steep slope to mitigate the erosion and building additional drainage structures to protect the pipeline.
“This is going to be a hell of an undertaking,” Ramsey said. “This could be a bit of a battle.”
He added that this work could also be very expensive and difficult given the surrounding terrain.
“In conclusion, I think they’re doing a good job of reclaiming as they’re supposed to,” Ramsey said. “The two issues with Park Ditch, right now they’re staying out of it. It could be a fight in the future, I don’t know. We’ll kind of see how that shakes out. Maybe the Webers will just take care of it. … We’ll see.”
Hudson asked if there is “any point” in the SJWCD knowing about these issues.
Ramsey explained that he also distributed a letter on the issues that he sent to Hudson and Boehmer to PAWSD’s legal counsel, who sent it to the SJWCD’s legal counsel, although he was not sure if it reached the board.
Boehmer commented that distributing information through the district’s lawyer is “fine.”
Tautges commented that it “wouldn’t hurt” to inform the SJWCD about the issues.
Ramsey replied that it is informed because PAWSD gives the information to its attorney.
“Yeah, but I look at that as a filter,” Tautges said.
Walsh commented that the SJWCD is a part owner and that its board could also investigate the issues.
“We don’t have to do all their homework,” he said.
Ramsey explained that the SJWCD board was invited to a recent walk of the Park Ditch and that two board members came but only stayed for two hours, while Ramsey was there for six to eight.
PAWSD board member Bruce Jones commented that the board’s current approach is likely appropriate given the legal situation between the districts.
“Just keep real good records of what we’re giving to their legal counsel,” Tautges said.
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