by Tracy Chamberlin    

Liquid gold just flowed onto the streets of Durango. Between 1.5 and 2 million gallons of it. And, it just kept flowing until the line was empty.
“I’ve never seen that much water come out of a pipe,” said the city’s Utilities Director Stephen Salka.

Last Saturday, there was a raw-water main break on Timberline Drive. Salka got the call in the middle of the night and has had little sleep since.
As his department began working on the problem, they hit some unexpected snags – like a pile of old pipe, sheet rock and carpeting unexpectedly buried at the site. And the discovery that the pipes used all those years ago were not readily available in the modern marketplace.

Salka said his employees have been working hard and will “get this fixed,” hopefully this week. In the meantime, the city’s reservoir level is in no danger of dropping and the liquid gold is only flowing through resident’s faucets.

But Durango is just one major fire or water main break away from running out of water, according to Salka.

This is where the Animas-La Plata Project comes in, like a call for back-up. “It really is a protection,” he added.

During the City Council meeting on Tues., Aug. 6, members voted unanimously to approve a $4 million loan from the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority, a quasi-state entity that assists municipalities with large loans and long term financing.

The 20-year loan, preapproved by voters in 2011, gives the city a water allocation on the Animas River, as well as a small portion of the water in Lake Nighthorse. At an interest rate of just 1.95 percent, president of the Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy District Bob Wolff called it a “smoking deal.”

While some residents want to just turn on the faucet, watch the water flow and not know where it’s coming from, others do want to know. Wolff is in the latter group.

He caught the water bug years ago and in addition to his role at A-LP has served on the city’s Water Commission, now called the Utilities Commission, for the past 12 years.

Wolff called A-LP a big deal for Durango. “It’s going to solidify the drought year water problem for the foreseeable future,” he added.

The water allocation the city receives can supply a population of 40,000 residents. Although, Durango may or may not double in size in the next 20 years, the additional water is something the city could utilize even today.

City Councilor Christina Rinderle noted just ahead of the A-LP vote that the city only has a seven-day water supply on hand. She considers the Animas-La Plata vote significant, a sentiment echoed by other council members. “This is your future, this is your water,” she said.

Rinderle recalled the year of the Missionary Ridge fire. When so much ash and debris fell into the Florida River, the city’s primary water source, the city had to shut off the pumps. The A-LP pumps, which get water from the Animas River, would provide a back-up plan and keep the city’s water flowing.

Rogers Reservoir, the city’s primary reservoir on College Mesa near Jenkins Ranch, typically sits at about 25 feet. Currently it’s at about 24 feet, even with the recent leak.

Salka said with recent rains keeping the Animas River flowing, the city is able to keep its two pumps near Santa Rita Park replenishing the municipal water supply.

However, whereas the Santa Rita intake is a garden hose, the Animas-La Plata intake is a fire hose, he said. With some tasks already complete and funding approved, city residents aren’t looking at a long wait to see this lifeline in action.

The intakes coming from the Animas are in place, as are the outtakes into the reservoir. Salka even has the electronic infrastructure in place to manage the reservoir levels.  “We’ve got all the mechanisms in place,” he added.

The one step left before the city can pump water from the Animas into Rogers Reservoir is the pipeline, which officials hope to start working on this winter.

Although the biggest hurdles are behind them city officials are still waiting for legal paperwork to go through before the shovels can hit the dirt.

However, there are other hurdles to contend with.  Last week’s leak wasn’t the result of the massive storm that swept across the Four Corners that day nor was it due to a freak accident. The simple fact is, the city’s water infrastructure is more than 60 years old.
Salka knows this, but with limited funding, there is no overnight fix.

City officials discussed raising the water rates by as much as 10 percent in 2014 at a recent meeting. The increase is something that would require public meetings and more discussion, but could be the only way for the city to fund the needed maintenance to the its infrastructure.

For now, the city’s Utilities Department is focused on evaluating the current system for needed maintenance. “We’re going from one end of the city to the other to do our job,” Salka said.

At the same time, Salka’s department is juggling new projects on the capital improvement list like the Animas-La Plata Project and a new water treatment facility, which is proposed for 2017.

Whether talking about funding, maintenance, rights or allocation, the one word officials use when describing water is “complicated.” Wolff calls it “the most complicated calculus of any resource.”

And, the Animas-La Plata Project was no exception.

According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the A-LP Project was originally authorized in 1968. Decades later, the fine points and particulars are finally being worked out, leaving the City Council with one final vote.

“It’s our water … now, we’re getting it,” Rinderle said.