Water infrastructure is sorely lacking in the county or is poorly maintained, water system manager Robert Ludwig said on Aug. 6 at the wrap-up county comprehensive plan session dealing with infrastructure.
Ludwig is a former public works director in Bayfield and now manages the Edgemont Ranch and El Rancho Florida systems. Also speaking were Greg Brand from San Juan Basin Health about rural sewer systems, and engineer Rich Bechtolt about road infrastructure.
"The water infrastructure doesn't exist in the county," Ludwig said. "You have disjointed infrastructure. We're faced with aging infrastructure that people can't afford to replace."
He said El Rancho Florida residents pay $260 a month for their water, with water charges, taxes and fees. They are paying for a new system.
"With our lack of infrastructure and lack of maintenance, where are we headed? People are struggling," he said.
Assorted regulations governing water systems have proliferated, he said, and handed examples to Planning Commission Chair Jim Tencza. State regs used to take up 30 pages. Now they are 300 pages. Another is the state requirement for a water system, which he said "puts the burden on individual counties to deal with." He also gave copies of old design standards and the much larger new standards, and two books dealing with best practices.
"Nothing is getting simpler in terms of the paperwork burden," Ludwig said. "There's not a standard of safety or predictability in those systems. There needs to be some expectation of safety. People need to know," even if it maybe hurts the value of some homes.
He hopes to see continued expansion of the La Plata/ Archuleta Water District rural water system, and he hopes for more systems, such as on the Dry Side.
Planning commissioner Lucy Baizel, who lives on the Dry Side, commented, "I wonder if we wouldn't be better saying this is where we want infrastructure, closer to the towns. And say there are some places, if you want to live there, take your chances."
Ludwig responded, "I think the natural selection is taking place now."
Brand said he deals 95 percent with rural on-site sewage systems. "We're involved with proposed subdivisions, second dwellings, additional living units, marijuana grow facilities, other Class 1 and 2 (land use) permits," he said. Construction in a rural area requires an on-site wastewater system permit before the county will issue a building permit, and the system must be in place and inspected before a certificate of occupancy will be issued, he said.
Most of the county has clay soil, meaning slow percolation rates for on-site systems. Brand showed photos of several system designs. They use a lot of sand to maximize dispersal of the effluent. Brand estimated that around 25 percent of waste water goes back into the aquifer in one of these systems. "The sand lets it evaporate or be transpired by plants. And with the tight soils, it would take a long time for it to go down, except at the north end of Vallecito."
Brand said SJBHD stopped issuing permits for new sewer lagoons in 2003. Anyone with an existing lagoon won't be allowed to add a second dwelling with that system, he said.
Asked about re-use of gray water, such as from sinks, showers, and laundry, Brand said, "I think it's worth looking at," but he advised, "You end up with two separate plumbing systems. It has the potential to be fairly expensive. I don't see it as cost-effective at this time."
Tencza asked about small-package sewage treatment systems for moderate size subdivisions that can't afford a full treatment plant.
Brand said SJBHD can only permit systems for less than 2,000 gallons per day. Above that is a state permit with the same requirements as a large system. Most homes are discharging around 450 gpd, he said, so it wouldn't take very many homes to go above the small system limit.
Bechtolt cited the high cost of road maintenance and improvements. Intersection improvements can run $4 to $5 million, and a road can cost $3 million per mile, and more in rough terrain.
"How are we ever going to make a dent in it with those numbers?" he asked. Maximize the road system you already have, he said. Identify specific problem spots and crash locations and fix those to get the best bang for the buck. "Most of what we deal with is operational enhancements, crash reductions, maintenance."
Routine maintenance extends the life of the existing system. Expanding road capacity is what's really expensive, he said.
He commended the job the County Road and Bridge Department does maintaining county roads.
Tencza commented, "Staff says they are in pretty good shape, but we've used every Bandaid and voodoo trick we can think of to keep them that way."
As for comp plan projections about traffic in 20 years, Bechtolt said, "It goes hand in hand with what we want our community to be in 20 years. What are our priorities as a community? There are decisions that will have to be made to reflect the priorities of the community."
