Let’s celebrate! Phase 0, the Raw Water Line Project, will be under construction by the time you read this! The LPWWA Board of Directors recently approved contracts for the construction with local contractor, Canyon Construction. The contractor will be laying the pipe and infrastructure, and Richard Phillips Marina Co. will put screens on the intake structure portal. Construction will move from the intake structure on Lake Nighthorse to CR 210, paralleling the existing gas line easement to CR 141 and then along CR 141 to CR 125 then up to and ending at Lake Durango for treatment of the raw water. This is the first step in getting treated water out to the Phase 1 area west of Blue Hill.
On Sept. 14, 2016, LPWWA held the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the commencement of Phase 0 at the Tribute Garden Overlook by Lake Nighthorse. LPWWA, the lead agency, hosted eight entities that have supported the project with their contributions of time and money. The eight entities, including LPWWA, are shown in the shovel line-up below as follows: (left to right) Lake Durango Water Authority – Ward Holmes, La Plata West Water Authority – Mardi Gebhardt, Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe – Chairman Manuel Heart, Southwest Water Conservation District – Laura Spann, Southern Ute Indian Tribe – Chairman Clement Frost, Animas La Plata Water Conservancy District – Gene Bradley, La Plata Water Conservation District – Brice Lee, Colorado Water Resources & Power Development Authority – Bob Wolff, Colorado Water Conservation Board – Kirk Russell.
LPWWA celebrated with 52 people related to the project. Speeches from all major entities were given with emphasis on the huge amount of joint cooperation between the groups to make this happen. Check out our website, www.lpwwa.org, for more details of the event and some great pictures! Construction of Phase 0 is expected to be completed by Aug. 2017.
Please note that the Durango Herald article, dated September 15, 2016, failed to report the significance and purpose of the groundbreaking ceremony. It was a significant milestone for our side of the county in that the purpose of this project is to secure the treated water for the rest of the distribution system out to the far western side of La Plata County for our future phases.
Phase 1 Update
Phase 1 is moving right along too! We have submitted our application with USDA for a loan to complete this phase of the project. We expect to hear back from USDA in late September, and we expect to get a letter of conditions that will list items we must accomplish before the loan to build the system is finalized. This is normal in the process to have things to complete in order to move forward. Most of the time they are very minor items that are normally required in construction projects. We, at this point, do not expect any major issues. If all goes as planned, we will be going out to bid for a construction contractor for Phase 1 in the Spring of 2017. We do know, at this time, that the USDA engineers have approved the Phase 1 design portion of the application.
YOU CAN STILL SIGN UP FOR PHASE 1
Now that this project is on its way, can you still get into Phase 1? YES, you can! Tap fees cost $10,000 right now. The more households that sign up, the less it will cost for everyone for the monthly charges. For more information on how to sign up and to see if you are eligible please call 970-403-5790. Applications can be found on our website at www.lpwwa.org.