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~ . The Vallecito Water Company . , I Editors Note: The Pine River Irrigation District (PRID), with offices near Vallecito Lake Colorado. and managed by Joe Brown, has undertaken the development of a domestic water system for their service area. The following questions and answers give more detail on their plans. Q. What is the purpose of the Villlecito ffuter Company? A. To provide and insure a safe domestic drinking water source to people. in the service area and to provide an alternate sup- ply to reSidents who have poor water quality domestic wel1s. Q. How is the Villlecito Water Company organized? A. The Val1ecito Water Co. is a non-profit domestic water company, organized for the benefit of the water users. There will be a Board of Directors, comprised of water users that will oversee the affairs of the water company. Q. What role does the Pine River Irrigation District play in the Villlecito Water Co? A. The Pine River Irrigation District has aSS.year history of p.roviding reliable irrigation water from Vallecito Lake to ag- ncultural users in the Pine River Val1ey and eastern La Plata County. The district was formed in 1935, the Vallecito Reser- voir was completed in 1941 in cooperation with the US Bu- reau of Reclamation. The water reservoir project indebted- ness was paid off in 1984. The water users include the South- ern Ute Tribe, various irrigation ditch companies and agricul- tural water users below the Vallecito Reservoir. The Pine River Irrigation District has organized the Val1ecito Water Company to develop quality domestic water for the benefit of residents in eastern La Plata County. Q. Where will the Villlecito Water Company get the water for the domestic system? A~ The Pine River Irrigation District (pRill) is proposing to buIld and operate a domestic water treatment plant and pro- vide treated water to the Vallecito Water Company for distri- bution to residents. The Pine River Irrigation District will provide water from its water rights in the Pine River and Vallecito Reservoir. Initially, 2,000 acre feet of domestic water wil1 be provided by PRlD through river flows and storage in Vallecito Reservoir. Q. Who will be served with domestic water from the Villlecito Water Company? A. The proposed service area for the Vallecito Water Com- pany will be comprised of the Pine River Val1ey and por- tions of eastern La Plata County. This is essentially the area of the existing PRlD boundaries. The Vallecito Water Company will not interfere with existing rural water sys- tems, such as the water delivery systems already operated by the Southern Tribe in the Ignacio area. Areas of Florida Mesa may also be served, depending on cost of service, and interest by residents in the proposed service area. Q. Once a domestic water tap is purchased from the Villlecito Water Company, what will be the cost for treated domestic water? A. After the initial cost of a rural water tap, there will be a period of time required to construct the water mains and service lines. That timetable is still under development but will proceed based on the number of water taps sold' and where the domestic water customers are located in the ser- vice area. A typical monthly bill for a residential water customer that uses 6,000 gallons of treated water per month would be approximately $30. Q. Will the proposed Villlecito ffuter Company water sys- tem provide a water source for fire protection in the ser- vice area? A. Many of our proposed water customers are served by rural fire protection districts in eastern La Plata County. These fire districts and their volunteers are very important to property owners in the proposed Vallecito Water Com- pany service area. The PRlD board and professional staff has been working with their water engineer and rural water consultant to anticipate the needs of rural fire protection, including line sizing of water mains and distribution lines ~t.will accommodate the water flows needed for fire fight- mg m rural areas. Most of the proposed service area has no fire hydrants and has limited water resources for fire pro- tection. While a number of issues on fire suppression would need to be worked out, the water company hopes to allevi- ate the lack of wate~ supply with the rural water system. Q. How can someone get more information on the Villlecito Water Company? A. Just give us a call at 884-2492. Chris Kramer is assist- ing the water company start up and can answer any ques- tions. We have extended out initial water tap deadline for potential customers until February 28, 1997. 2