For Justin Elkins, patience is a crucial part of his approach to life. The city’s newest utilities manager isn’t just about the municipal water industry but also Buddhism.
Elkins grew up in Columbus, Georgia, where he played football and ended up earning a football scholarship to the U.S. Military Academy.
“I got a couple of offers. But the best offer that I got was from West Point. They said, ‘We’ll give you a stipend to go to school, we’ll buy a new computer every year, we’ll give you clothes.’ And at the time, it was my best option,” he said.
Elkins attended West Point for a year before deciding to choose a different career path. After leaving West Point, he attended Bethany College in West Virginia where he double majored in psychology and religious studies. He would later earn a master’s degree from Naropa University in religious studies specializing in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.
He said Buddha’s first teaching – that life is suffering – drew his interest the most.
While earning his master’s degree, he became interested in water treatment and started working with the Boulder Valley School District water program.
His background in Eastern philosophy allows him to bring patience to his position as the city’s utilities manager.
“I want to understand why we do things a certain way, and work with the people around me to modify procedures, and make sure that everything has come from somewhere that’s impermanent,” Elkins said.
Impermanence is an essential doctrine of Buddhist teaching. It is a teaching that says everything is impermanent but there are myriad causes and conditions for something to be in place in the present.
“Instead... of trying to just find a solution and get out and move on, I want to try to find why we do things a certain way and make sure that I understand that first before trying to modify anything,” Elkins said.
He has applied this concept to issues involving the city’s water meters. The city has been working on a plan to replace water meters with a mesh network system to increase reading accuracy and reduce technician time in the field. Elkins said he’s spent much time listening to all parties involved to help with the project.
Elkins is also a substitute yoga teacher at the Sweaty Buddha. He said he wanted to get involved with the Durango yoga community and started training to become a yoga teacher in 2021.
“It’s a moving meditation, it’s a great opportunity at the end of a long workday, or before you start a long workday to check in with yourself,” he said.
He is also not afraid to challenge himself. Elkins hikedthe Colorado Trail in 15 days averaging 32 miles a day.
Self-reliance was his favorite part of the journey. He said he packed five days of food to carry, shipped the next five days of food to the Twin Lakes area and then before starting the trip, drove the final days’ worth of food to a location near Spring Creek Pass and stashed it in a tree to have for the remainder of the hike.
“It was a hastily thrown together plan. I didn't know I was going to do it until like a week before,” he said. “So I have less than 10 pounds on my back and enough food for the next five days and I have to get from point A to point B or my trip is over.”
Elkins took the trip as a sign of integrity and finishing something that’s been started. He said living up to those standards is something he strives to do.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
