The San Juan Water Conservancy District (SJWCD) discussed an upcoming joint meeting with the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) at its Jan. 6 meeting.
The districts have been involved in a dispute over PAWSD’s efforts to sell the Running Iron Ranch, which is jointly owned by the two organizations and where SJWCD plans to construct a reservoir.
In December 2024, PAWSD filed a lawsuit against the SJWCD seeking declaratory judgment on if PAWSD has the right to sell the property without the consent of the SJWCD under the terms of a 2015 three-way agreement between PAWSD, SJWCD and the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
The agreement governs the districts’ roles in the development of a reservoir and paying off the loans associated with the property in addition to outlining terms and conditions for a sale of the property.
Following an executive session at the Jan. 6 meeting, SJWCD president Candace Jones explained that the SJWCD was invited to a meeting with PAWSD and that the lawyers for the two districts are in the process of scheduling this meeting.
She added that the meeting would include representatives of both boards and their legal counsels.
Jones stated that the executive session was held to discuss negotiation strategies for her and fellow SJWCD board member Charles Riehm, who will represent the SJWCD at this meeting.
She then asked for a motion from the board to formalize that she and Riehm would represent the board at this meeting and to direct them to proceed with negotiations as discussed in the executive session.
A motion was made and seconded to proceed as Jones requested.
SJWCD board member Rob Hagberg added that the meeting will involve two board members from each board and would not be open to the public.
Jones commented that was how the invitation to the meeting was described to her.
The board then unanimously voted to approve the previous motion for Jones and Riehm to represent the SJWCD.
The PAWSD Board of Directors also briefly discussed the meeting between the two boards at its Dec. 20, 2024, meeting, where PAWSD District Engineer/Manager Justin Ramsey explained that the meeting between PAWSD and the SJWCD would likely involve the PAWSD Running Iron Ranch subcommittee, which is composed of PAWSD board members Bill Hudson and Glenn Walsh.
Walsh commented that the districts would have a meeting and that SJWCD would either “take on an approach to really taking over the project, including taking over the land, or we’ll head to court.”
He predicted that, if the issue heads to court, the board would likely be “surprised” with how long the issue would disappear from PAWSD board agendas.
“Next year there’ll be less contention and agita perhaps,” Walsh concluded.
josh@pagosasun.com
