DISTRICT COURT, WATER DIVISION 7, COLORADO
WATER RESUME
(This publication can be viewed in its entirety on the state court website at:
www.coloradojudicial.gov).
______________________
TO: ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN WATER APPLICATIONS IN SAID WATER DIVISION NO. 7
Pursuant to C.R.S. 37-92-302, you are notified that the following is the resume of all water right applications filed in the Office of the Water Clerk during the month of August 2026, for Archuleta County.
2026CW3022 Archuleta County, Application for Finding of Reasonable Diligence. 1. Applicants: Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (“PAWSD”), P. O. Box 4610, Pagosa Springs, CO 81157, (970) 731-2691, and San Juan Water Conservancy District (“SJWCD”), P.O. Box 2462, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147, (832) 370-5017, c/o their attorneys, Kendall Burgemeister, LAW OF THE ROCKIES, 525 North Main Street, Gunnison, CO 81230, (970) 641-1903,
kburgemeister@lawoftherockies.com, and Jeffrey Kane, SOUTHWEST WATER AND PROPERTY LAW LLC, 679 E 2nd Ave Unit 10, Durango, CO 81301, (970) 422-5510;
jkane@swpropertylaw.com; 2. Water rights originally decreed Oct. 31, 2011, Case No. 04CW85, Water Division 7, for which a finding of reasonable diligence was entered Aug. 19, 2020, Case No. 18CW3041, for which Co-Applicants request entry of a finding of reasonable diligence: A. Dry Gulch Reservoir. i. Location: off-channel reservoir located on Dry Gulch, an ephemeral tributary to the San Juan River. The center point on the dam axis is located on the section line separating Sections 5 and 8, Township 35 North, Range 1 West, of the NMPM, 1,300 feet west of the Southeast corner of said Section 5. Dry Gulch Reservoir will occupy all or portions of the following quarter sections, all located in Township 35 North, Range 1 West, of the NMPM: all of the SW/4, the S/2 of the NW/4, the S/2 and E/4 of the NE/4, and the S/2 and NW/4 of the SE/4 of Section 4; the SE/4 of the SE/4 of Section 5; the N/2 and SE/4 of the NE/4 of Section 8; and all of the NW/4, all of the NE/4, the N/2 of the SW/4, and the NW/4 of the SE/4 of Section 9. ii. Source: Dry Gulch, an ephemeral tributary to the San Juan River, and the San Juan River from Dry Gulch Pumping Station and/or Park Ditch. iii. Appropriation Date: Dec. 20, 2004. iv. Amount: a. First Fill: 4,700 acre-feet (“AF”), conditional, combined filling rate of up to 50 cfs in combination with SJWCD’s existing 6,300 AF conditional storage right (previously decreed in Case No. 308-73D, Archuleta County District Court with a priority date of Dec. 19, 1968. b. Successive Refill: 11,000 AF, conditional, combined filling rate of up to 50 cfs, to refill successively whenever in priority after first fill. v. Uses: municipal (including domestic, industrial, commercial, mechanical, fire protection, sewage treatment, watering of parks, lawns, gardens and other public spaces), irrigation, agriculture, recreation, piscatorial and incidental wildlife uses, lake and reservoir evaporation, exchange, augmentation, and replacement, adjustment and regulation of the Co-Applicants’ respective storage and delivery systems, and those of its users, among themselves and with others. The water may be placed to use only within the PAWSD or SJWCD service areas as such now exist or may exist in the future. vi. Dimensions: a. Surface Area: approx. 319 acres. B. Height of Dam: approx. 105 feet. c. Length of Dam: Approx. 1,500 feet. d. Active Capacity. Approx. 11,000 acre feet. B. Dry Gulch Pumping Station. i. Location: in the San Juan River as it flows through the SE/4 of the SW/4 of Section 5, Township 35 North, Range 1 West, of the NMPM, at a point 3,100 feet from the east section line and 750 feet from the south section line of said Section 5. ii. Source. San Juan River. iii. Appropriation Date: Dec. 20, 2004. iv. Amount: 50 cfs, conditional, for direct use and/or storage in Dry Gulch Reservoir or other reservoirs currently owned or controlled by the Districts. v. Uses: municipal (including domestic, industrial, commercial, mechanical, fire protection, sewage treatment, watering of parks, lawns, gardens and other public spaces), irrigation, agriculture, recreation, piscatorial and incidental wildlife uses, lake and reservoir evaporation, exchange, augmentation, and for replacement, adjustment and regulation of the Co- Applicants’ respective storage and delivery systems, and those of its users, among themselves and with others. The water may be placed to use only within the PAWSD or SJWCD service areas as such now exist or may exist in the future. 3. Diligence activities: A. SJWCD and PAWSD own the land upon with the Dry Gulch Reservoir dam, will be built. B. PAWSD completed the following during the diligence period: i. PAWSD worked with SJWCD to manage the Running Iron Ranch lands it owns for the Reservoir site, including negotiations concerning gravel mining and grazing leases and gravel mine reclamation. ii. PAWSD’s water enterprise fund made the following expenditures to operate, maintain, repair, and develop its integrated water supply system, into which the Dry Gulch Project is decreed to be included: a. 2020: $5,144,130; b. 2021: $5,645,248; c. 2022: $6,832,277; d. 2023: $11,570,915; e. 2024: $29,389,922; f. 2025 (approximate): $31,561,771; and g. 2026 (budgeted): $12,229,553. iii. PAWSD prosecuted an application for a finding of reasonable diligence and to make absolute in part for other conditional water rights in its raw water supply portfolio. C. SJWCD completed the following during the diligence period: i. Spent approximately $265,691.32 for engineering analyses and project planning, including water supply and demand analyses for the SJWCD service area, evaluation of its portfolio of water rights, and structural options for meeting such demand. ii. SJWCD spend approximately $5,301.50 obtaining a finding of diligence for the senior Dry Gulch Reservoir water right. iii. SJWCD worked with PAWSD concerning the management of the Running Iron Ranch lands it owns for the Reservoir site, including negotiations concerning gravel mining and grazing leases and gravel mine reclamation. iv. SJWCD developed and adopted a Strategic Plan in 2021 to identify issues, action items, and priorities for achieving its mission to be an active leader in all issues affecting the water resources of the Upper San Juan River Basin and discusses implementation of the Strategic Plan at each of its meetings. v. SJWCD has participated in and contributed funding to projects by the Upper San Juan Watershed Enhancement Project, Growing Water Smart, San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership, Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership, and Mountain Studies Institute, spending approximately $40,361.84, to work with the local community to plan for and implement efforts to ensure water is available in a future warming and drying climate. vi. SJWCD spent approximately $75,899.26 on public outreach to its constituents concerning water matters and planning. vii. SJWCD spent approximately $16,500.00 as a partner in the Water Information Program, with a mission to explain, promote, and publish objective and balanced information and educational workshops and festivals related to water in southwestern Colorado. 4. Names of owners of land upon which any new diversion or storage structure will be constructed or upon which water is or will be stored: A. Co-Applicants jointly own the land upon which the Dry Gulch Reservoir dam will be constructed. B. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. C. Kurt William Laverty, 2244 E Highway 160, Pagosa Springs, Colorado 81147. Notice of this Application will be given in the manner required by law. 4. Other Pertinent Information: These water rights are subject to the terms and limitations specified in the 04CW85 Decree, including a “Reality Check” provision in Section 29.2, for which Co-Applicants include the following information: A 2022 engineering analysis prepared for SJWCD determined that projected water demand shortages for municipal, environmental, and recreational uses will exceed 20,000 acre-feet in some years and that a 10,000 acre-feet reservoir would meet future municipal and mid-range agricultural and environmental demands of the Districts’ constituents in all years except very dry years. After a comprehensive analysis, SJWCD’s consulting engineer concluded that the Dry Gulch Reservoir site is the most advantageous reservoir site in the upper San Juan basin to meet the Districts’ projected water demands. A map providing the general location and extent of the Reservoir is filed with the Application. (11 pages including exhibit)
THE WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED BY THE FOREGOING APPLICATION(S) MAY AFFECT IN PRIORITY ANY WATER RIGHTS CLAIMED OR HERETOFORE ADJUDICATED WITHIN THIS DIVISION AND OWNERS OF AFFECTED RIGHTS MUST APPEAR TO OBJECT AND PROTEST WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY STATUTE, OR BE FOREVER BARRED.
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT YOU HAVE until the last day of October 2026, to file with the Water Clerk, a verified Statement of Opposition, setting forth facts as to why a certain application should not be granted or why it should be granted only in part or on certain conditions. A copy of such Statement of Opposition must also be served upon the applicant or the applicant’s attorney and an affidavit or certificate of such service shall be filed with the Water Clerk, as prescribed by Rule 5, CRCP. (Filing fee: $192.00; Forms are available through the Office of the Water Clerk or on the Judicial web site at
www.coloradojudicial.gov; Jason Poyer, Water Court Specialist, 1060 E. 2nd Ave., Room 106, Durango, CO 81301; 970-247-2304)
/s/ Jason Poyer
Water Court Specialist
Published: before September 30, 2026
Published September 24, 2026, in The Pagosa Springs SUN. (317880)
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