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Water conservancy talks continued litigation, legal spending

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The San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) Board of Directors discussed legal expenses and expressed its resolve to continue litigation with the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) over the sale of Running Iron Ranch at its Jan. 20 meeting.

The litigation concerns PAWSD’s ability to sell the ranch — the proposed site for a reservoir — without the consent of the SJWCD, who has repeatedly expressed opposition to the sale.

The districts are co-owners of the property, and PAWSD is responsible for making payments on loans for the parcel under the terms of a 2015 agreement between PAWSD, the SJWCD and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, who provided the loans used to purchase the property.

Following an executive session, SJWCD president Candace Jones outlined the history of PAWSD’s efforts to sell the ranch and the litigation. 

“We are obligated to follow the process of litigation,” she said. “We don’t have the opportunity to turn the other cheek and just keep talking. Litigation has a schedule. … And, so, it’s kind of like getting sucker punched, the public getting sucker punched, but we have to fight back … in the context of the litigation, of course, and the process the court has.”

Jones explained the next step in the litigation is to answer the complaint filed against the district by PAWSD, adding that this answer is due by Jan. 31.

“We will follow the process,” Jones said. “We will walk and chew gum as best we can at the same time, following the litigation process, continuing to have discussions to the extent discussions might be fruitful or not, and moving ahead with the planning that we have been doing for understanding what can happen out at the Running Iron Ranch.”

She commented that the ranch “belongs to the public” and that the district expected to have another 10 years for reservoir planning given the planning period outlined in the three-way agreement.

“Our budget is minuscule compared to the budget that PAWSD has, so we have to move forward purposefully within our budget and protect the public interest in the property as best we can,” Jones said. “We started with having people out at the ranch trying to think about public uses of the property and as we were starting to do that, getting people more involved and aware of the property, that’s when PAWSD put out their feelers and put it on the market and sell the property out from under the public. So, we will do our best to walk and chew gum at the same time within our budget and respond to litigation because that’s the way litigation works and, at the same time, keep understanding what we can do to put that property to the best … public purpose for the community.”

Jones then asked the board for a motion to authorize its lawyer to prepare an answer to PAWSD’s lawsuit and any counterclaims in time for the Jan. 31 deadline in addition to authorizing Jones and SJWCD board member Charles Riehm to work with the attorney to file the document.

The board unanimously voted to approve the requested motion.

Later in the meeting, during his treasurer’s report, SJWCD board member Joe Tedder explained that the district had spent about $4,600 on the litigation so far in January.

He stated that the board allocated $10,000 in its 2025 budget for legal expenses related to the proposed sale of the ranch.

In previous budget discussions, the board noted that litigation with PAWSD would likely cost more than $10,000 and the budget might need to be modified at a later date to accommodate increased legal expenses.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re having to spend money, good public money, on that situation,” Tedder said.

josh@pagosasun.com