On April 22, the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) entered stage one drought under its drought mitigation plan, imposing new restrictions on irrigation and rate multipliers for high water use.
The district’s drought plan calls for it to enter stage one drought if snow water equivalent (SWE) at the Upper San Juan U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service SNOwpack TELemetry Network (SNOTEL) site reaches zero between April 17 and May 1.
SWE fell to zero on April 22, triggering stage one drought, according to PAWSD District Engineer Justin Ramsey.
During drought stage one, irrigation is permitted only between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m., and residential customers who use more than 5,000 gallons of water a month will have a 1.25 times rate multiplier applied to their water bills.
According to the PAWSD website, the imposition of this multiplier will begin to impact customer bills received in May, although the irrigation restrictions will start immediately.
The plan notes that gardens may be hand watered using a hose or drip irrigation.
The drought plan also encourages restaurants to conserve water by only serving water to customers at their request, and hotels are encouraged to replace towels and bed linens only for new guests and at the request of existing guests.
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