Bayfield's water treatment plant will get a major expansion in the next few months, but the town won't be paying for it. The La Plata/ Archuleta Water District (LAPLAWD) will.
Town trustees approved the low bid of $7.1 million from Integrated Water Services on May 5, and the LAPLAWD board approved it on May 14. There were five bidders, with the high bid topping $8.7 million.
LAPLAWD manager Ed Tolen said this week, "We were a little disappointed that it came in higher than the engineer's estimate, but we need to move forward with the project." The engineer's estimate was $5 million right before the bidding.
The rural water district serves customers with water treated in the Bayfield plant through a joint agreement signed in 2012. The 1 million gallons per day water plant expansion paid for by LAPLAWD is part of that agreement.
LAPLAWD will be the owner's representative on the construction of the expansion, but the town will continue to own and operate the plant. Both entities will have to approve the final plans and specifications for the project, and both will have to approve all progress and final payments. They will cooperate in supervising all aspects of construction.
Current plant capacity is 1.5 million gpd. The 1 million gpd of new capacity will be split, with three-quarters to LAPLAWD and one-quarter to the town. So out of the new 2.5 million gpd capacity, the town will get 1.75 million and the district .75 million gpd. According to the 2012 agreement, LAPLAWD pays a share of operating costs based on the amount of water it uses each month.
The expansion to 2.5 million gpd will include a building large enough to accommodate a future expansion up to 3.5 million gpd.
LAPLAWD started laying water lines in 2013, through town from the water plant down CR 501 and west along Bayfield Parkway to County Road 509, then south on 509 to 510. The line went west on 510, with a south leg onto 511 and then west on 514. That's done and is in service, Tolen said. The board approved a contract on May 14 for the next section on CR 513 and 311. Construction should start in June, he said.
The next phase, scheduled to start late this year, will complete the line along the west end of 510 and CR 225A to Highway 160. The line will then come east along 160 back to Bayfield Parkway at CR 509. The LAPLAWD fall/ winter 2014 newsleetter lists completion tentatively for fall 2016.
The first customers got water in January 2014 on CR 510.
All the water for this area will come from Vallecito. The LAPLAWD service area goes west to the Animas River. Water for that area would come from Lake Nighthorse. According to the fall/ winter 2014 newsletter, the district has contracted with the state to buy 2,500 acre feet from Lake Nighthorse over a 40 year period. This is part of the state's allocation of 10,460 AF in Nighthorse.
LAPLAWD's long-term plan has included a water treatment plant for the Nighthorse water, and a treatment plant near Bayfield.
