Grab your wallet and eyeball the Lake Hatcher water level. Drought surcharges for residents (not businesses) are coming to your water bill.

The Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District sent out a confusing news release Tuesday describing the PAWSD Board of Directors’ declaration of a Stage 2 Drought. Why grab your wallet? By declaring a Level 2 Drought, your water charges will double for use of more than 8,000 gallons a month.

An Example PAWSD Forgot

The news release doesn’t provide an example, so I will. My wife and I paid $107 for water in June. Under the drought rules, we would have paid about $60 more, or $165. Sewer charges remain the same. With sewer included, our bill would have been $215.50.

Inconsistencies Abound

Why is the news release confusing? There are so many inconsistencies between the release and the different versions of the 2020 drought management plan that it is hard to know where to begin.

Let’s start with the news release and take a look at Lake Hatcher water levels, the San Juan River, and U.S. Drought Monitor statistics.

From the news release:

“The trigger points for Stage 2 Drought Restrictions are any one of the following:

• On or before April 8th, SnoTel Water Equivalency Reaches 0”;
• On or before April 13th, a call is put on Four Mile Creek;
• Hatcher Reservoir levels reach 527 acre feet; and/or
• San Juan River reach 482 cfs.”

Well, I may not know much, but I know this isn’t April. Including those two lines doesn’t make sense.

The “any one of the following” is incorrect, at least according to the drought plan, which states:

The scoring tool weights the three triggers differently, i.e. the usable volume in Hatcher Reservoir is weighted at two times the San Juan River Flows and three times the Regional Drought Stage.

Lake Hatcher

So what is the level of Lake Hatcher? PAWSD doesn’t publish the number so ratepayers can’t tell when the trigger has been reached. You have to use your eyeballs and guess. The PLPOA must have access to the data because the HOA reports the Hatcher Lake level is down 3 feet.

According to comments made by General Manager Justin Ramsay and Board Chair Gene Tautges, Hatcher is not at the trigger point. Tautges called the drought declaration “preventative.”

The board voted 3-0 to declare the drought. Newly elected Board Member Bruce Jones and Treasurer Alex Boehmer were absent. Neither sent in a proxy, made written comments on the drought, nor attended via Zoom. The board excused their absences.

National Drought Status Missing

Getting back to the odd news release, the NOAA National Integrated Drought Information System status for Archuleta County is missing. That trigger is included in the 2020 drought plan. (We’ve been in “Severe Drought” for most of the year, although we are a long way from the “Exceptional Drought” conditions of 2002, 2018, and 2021.)

2024 and 2025 River Levels Close

Now the river. It’s been below the 482 cfs trigger since the second week of June. The blue line is 2024 and the orange line is 2025.

Why declare the drought now when the river level and drought stage have been at trigger points since June? And why declare the drought at 5 p.m. Aug. July 31 in time for August billing but delay public notification until Aug. 5?

Why Now?

No public comment was accepted at the Aug. 31 board meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. No agenda has been published.

The Aug. 31 meeting was the most important meeting of the year. In addition to declaring the drought, the board approved 2024 audited financial statements. I’ll have more on that later. Below is a peek.