Evolution of Dry Gulch:
PAWSD Board Approves Supplemental Report
At their regular meeting held Tuesday, October 27, 2009, the PAWSD Board of Directors unanimously approved adoption of a report re-evaluating a portion of the Dry Gulch project.
This latest report demonstrates the on-going evolution of the Dry Gulch Project as more information is gained through engineering studies, an evolution that is inevitable when planning for any long-term project.
The report, Supplement to "2008 Report to Evaluate Alternatives for Raw Water Diversion from the San Juan River": Re-Evaluation of Options 5 and 6 to Serve District 2, re-evaluates the recommendation made to the Board in January, 2008 for future diversion of raw water from the San Juan River. During the course of examining that 2008 recommendation in further detail, new information indicated that it needed to be re-evaluated.
Thus, with Board approval in April to re-evaluate the original recommended diversion option, consulting engineers moved forward and as a result produced the report adopted on October 27, 2009.
A summary of the conclusions and final recommendations is the following:
- Combine the Options 5 and 6 from the 2008 report into recommended Option 6A;
- Retain West Fork diversion point;
- Upgrade the Snowball raw water pipeline through the Jackson Mountain slide area, retaining the pipeline segment to the existing Snowball Water Treatment Plant and constructing a new pipeline to the Dry Gulch site;
- Upgrade and expand the Snowball Water Treatment Plant at its existing site to ensure continued compliance with current water quality regulations and capacity to meet current and short-term future demand;
- When growth requires it, construct a new treatment plant at the Dry Gulch site.
The advantages of Option 6A include much better water quality from the West Fork, as opposed to a diversion from the main stem of the San Juan River at the Dry Gulch site, and hydropower potential on the gravity feed raw water line. Also, because gravity can be used to convey water to the treatment plants and partially fill the reservoir, this option greatly reduces the costs to build and operate pumps. Finally, this option allows for the Snowball pipeline to be built incrementally, phasing the cost.
As funding allows, engineering studies will continue for the Snowball pipeline at the Jackson Mountain slide area as well as begin on the Snowball Treatment Plant upgrade, which are the most pressing Dry Gulch Project needs.
Due to the long-term nature and broad scope of the Dry Gulch Project and continually fluctuating variables upon which any type of planning is based, including new information gained as various required studies progress, the District re-evaluates its project plans at least annually. Although the philosophy of the Board is that nothing will be built until growth demands it and the District can afford it, the Board also believes that planning for inevitable future needs is necessary so that when it comes, we as a community are prepared.
