By Josh Pike
Staff Writer
The San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) Board of Directors heard an update at its Feb. 16 meeting on the district’s application for a small storage grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) to assist with advancing its reservoir project at Running Iron Ranch.
SJWCD board member Charles Riehm indicated that the district submitted a detailed feasibility study to the BoR, partially drafted by the district’s engineering contractor RJH Consultants, which would allow it to pursue funding for further planning for designing and constructing the reservoir.
“It gives us a chance to prove that we can do this and the funding for this isn’t going to hit the taxpayers directly,” Riehm said. “We’re taking it out of federal funding that is all over the Colorado River Basin trying to establish higher reservoirs for storing water for the Colorado River Basin, including ourselves here.”
He commented that the funding would be critical to allowing the district to move to the next phase of its reservoir construction project.
Riehm added that the BoR had acknowledged receipt of the application and would be setting up next steps with the district in the upcoming weeks.
SJWCD board member Randy Cooper clarified that the SJWCD submitted a feasibility study to the BoR and that, if this study is approved, the district will be eligible to apply for grant funding.
He added that the district is not currently seeking funding, but instead trying to convince the BoR that the project is feasible.
Cooper commented that RJH did a “great job” in assembling the document.
Riehm noted that the deadline for submitting for grant funding is in April and that the review of the feasibility study will allow the district to get feedback on any gaps that the BoR sees in its current reservoir plan and shape its funding application to address them.
He added that the documents submitted to the BoR are posted on the SJWCD website for public review, including the feasibility study, a previous water demand study commissioned by the district and other documents.
josh@pagosasun.com
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