At its Sept. 21 meeting, the San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) Board of Directors approved a draft 2027 budget for publication.
SJWCD treasurer Joe Tedder explained that he approached the budget proposal differently this year, including a line-item-by-line-item explanation of budget changes in the board packet for the meeting so the board could review them ahead of time.
Due to this change, Tedder stated that he would only highlight key changes at the meeting instead of covering every change made.
He began by explaining that the SJWCD’s tax revenues would be down by about 1 percent from 2026, according to Archuleta County calculations, with property values dropping by 1 percent and the district’s mill levy remaining the same.
Tedder then discussed the water demand study to be conducted by engineering firm RJH Consultants that the board approved at its August meeting.
He stated that the cost of this study was $147,400 and that he included a 5 percent contingency on top of this to cover any unexpected expenses.
He added that he budgeted that the district would spend the remaining $19,779 for engineering work included in the 2026 budget on the study in 2026 and include the remaining costs in the 2027 budget.
SJWCD board member Candace Jones asked whether RJH had provided guidance on what information requests from other entities for the study needed to be made and what work could be done with what information, especially information obtained from the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD).
“I just want to make sure that if we’re budgeting and we’re still expecting to spend a chunk of money in 2026 that it’s realistic that they’ll actually be able to do the work that is budgeted,” she said.
SJWCD president Randy Cooper replied that RJH has divided the work into a variety of tasks and developed lists of stakeholders to engage.
He added that the study would involve board engagement throughout the process and would require board work to be completed.
Jones commented that she wanted to ensure that the work in 2026 is not work that can be held up or work that anticipates information that PAWSD might refuse to provide if it declines to cooperate with providing information for the study.
She added that she would want RJH to send information requests to PAWSD and other entities “sooner than later” to learn what information they may be willing to provide and prevent the SJWCD from paying RJH for work that will be unfeasible due to the necessary data not being available.
Cooper stated that the district would talk with RJH and work with the company to front-load the data requests for the study.
Tedder returned to explaining the budget changes, stating that there would be $5,000 placed in the line item for water rights diligence applications and the line item for water rights defenses would be increased from $5,000 to $10,000 based on the advice of SJWCD legal counsel Jeffrey Kane at the meeting.
He added that he included a 5 percent increase for insurance expenses, although he had not yet received a bill for insurance in 2026, so he was unsure how it might change in 2027.
Tedder commented that general legal expenses would likely need to be increased from $12,000 to $15,000 since Kane stated that he would be increasing his fees, which had not been adjusted in several years, earlier in the meeting.
Tedder added that he included $10,000 in the budget for residual legal expenses related to the lawsuit between the SJWCD and PAWSD over PAWSD’s attempts to sell the Running Iron Ranch, although he expressed hope that most of the expenses related to this litigation, which the two districts are currently negotiating a settlement to, would be done in 2026.
He noted that he increased the budget for training from $500 to $1,000, although he expressed skepticism based on previous years that this amount of money would be spent on training.
Tedder also stated that he increased the travel budget from $500 to $1,500 due to the potential that board members would need to make trips to interact with RJH.
He indicated that he raised the public education line item from $2,500 to $5,000 on the expectation that the district would have more education expenses in 2027.
The Running Iron Ranch management line item was proposed to be kept at $2,500, Tedder stated.
SJWCD board member Charles Riehm commented that $2,500 is not enough to do weed mitigation on the property and that Archuleta County Weed and Pest Program Director Ethan Proud indicated that doing spring and fall treatments on the ranch would likely cost between $3,000 and $4,000.
Riehm added that Proud has time to do a treatment of the property at the end of September, which would give additional information about the potential costs of treatment by better assessing the amount of weeds.
Riehm proposed that the district should budget $5,000 for ranch maintenance, including weed control and other work.
Jones asked if this number would include work that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) wants the district to do to realign fences on the property that adjoin USFS land.
Riehm stated that this work would include very little material costs, but would require some labor, although the amount is unclear without a survey of the line being conducted to know where the fence would need to be relocated to.
Following more discussion of the issue, the board agreed to raise the ranch maintenance line item to $6,000 to account for potential labor costs.
Tedder explained that the proposed budget would include an increase in funding for the Upper San Juan Watershed Enhancement Partnership (WEP) from $2,500 to $3,000 and an additional $5,000 in cash match for a Wildfire Ready Action Plan grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) that the WEP was recently approved for.
He stated that the WEP would need to come up with a $120,000 cash match over the next two years for the $462,000 awarded by the CWCB.
After summarizing the changes made at the meeting, Tedder asked the board for a motion to publish the draft budget so the board could receive public comments on it.
Jones motioned to approve the budget for publication, which the board unanimously voted to do.
josh@pagosasun.com
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