It was a long time coming, but potable in-house running water has become reality in a south-central La Plata County neighborhood.
The La Plata Archuleta Water District, officially formed in August 2008, and on Thursday it marked the first delivery of water at the home of Lucas and Brittney Avery in the Silver Hills subdivision off County Road 510.
The recognition was symbolic. The couple were the first to pay the $5,550 tap fee.
Dick Lunceford, president of the water district board, presented them a plaque that recognized them as the first customers.
Lunceford recalled the push to bring potable water to the area that began in 1994 with the formation of the Vallecito Water Co.
“We ran into road blocks,” Lunceford said. “But out of the effort came the La Plata Archuleta Water District.”
But until district water mains reach them, residents in the targeted area must rely as they have for decades on wells or water they haul. The Averys, who bought their lot in the Silver Hills subdivision last summer, were spared the experience.
Lucas Avery works for Crossfire, a gas and oil field construction-services company. Brittney Avery works in the infant room at the Durango Methodist Christian School.
They’ve been busy, Lucas Avery said.
The tap fee was paid in December, but the pace picked up last week, he said. The water was connected Thursday, they closed escrow on Friday and moved in Saturday.
Sixty to 70 more residences in the vicinity of county roads 509 and 510 could receive service from the current distribution network, water district manager Ed Tolen said.
About half of them have asked for a meter, which indicates they are serious about hooking up, Tolen said.
Expansion of the pipeline network this spring will make water available to more residents along country roads 509, 510 and 513, Tolen said.
A contract with the Pine River Irrigation District gives the water district 200 acre-feet of water a year from Vallecito Reservoir.
The water goes to the town of Bayfield treatment plant, and from there it is distributed. The water district is paying for expansion of the treatment plant – from 1.5 million gallons a day to 2.5 million gallons a day – to meet the new demand.
A contract for the work is ready to go to bid, the district’s consulting engineer, Steve Harris, said Thursday. The district has issued $5 million in bonds toward the $7.5 million project.
Harris said that building a treatment plant from scratch would cost the district more.
Long-range plans call for bringing potable water to 400 square miles, first in southeast La Plata County and later southwest Archuleta County.
The formation of the district required approval from county commissioners and the 6th Judicial District court before it was put to a vote of residents in the proposed service area.
Along the way, opponents said the Gopher Hole Project, as they called it, was too expensive and opened the door to land developers. At several stages, residents were allowed to opt out. A number did.
After approving formation of the district, residents voted to tax themselves 5 mills to help pay expenses. Grants and loans also were used.
daler@durangoherald.com
