 What is the Plan?
Beginning as early as 2014, a new water treatment plant and water diversion facility will be constructed on the San Juan River approximately one and a half miles north of Pagosa Springs. This facility will replace the 40-year old, obsolete, at-capacity Snowball Water Treatment Plant as well as replace the diversion and pipeline currently coming across Jackson Mountain from the West Fork of the San Juan.
Beginning as early as 2020, construction will begin on a new reservoir, called the Dry Gulch Reservoir, that will store enough water to provide for the water demands at that time and well into the future as well as ensure a stored safety supply sufficient to accommodate a multi-year drought, source water contamination event or some other unforeseen event.
When the time for a reservoir size decision is reached (approximately 2016), the development plan for the Dry Gulch Reservoir will be to construct only as large a reservoir as is justified by future demand estimates and financing capability. The reservoir may be built to its largest capacity all at once, or it may be initially built small and enlarged in a second stage. This decision will be made by the community prior to construction.
The lead time to construct a new reservoir is typically twenty years or more. Therefore, it is prudent to plan for the largest reservoir size that might be needed in terms of securing permits, land and water rights. If water demands increase faster than projected, construction and land costs increase exponentially, the water yield of the District’s water system declines, or all three, the community will be prepared.
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