A proposal to form a rural water authority in Otero, Bent and Prowers counties attracted nearly 50 people who represent county governments, rural water providers and other organizations to a meeting at Otero Junior College Tuesday night.
Nearly all of the 27 entities that provide water to Otero County residents heard Bill Hancock from Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District and Gary Barber from Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority explain the potential benefits of forming a rural water authority.
Barber said he and Hancock have been working for the past six months to identify problems rural water providers currently face and expect to encounter in coming years. They have also begun to identify solutions to those various problems, of which compliance with federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards will be paramount in the future and could pose tremendous financial burdens on the water providers, especially the smaller companies that have as few as 20 customers.
“Please join us in making this happen,” Barber said, noting that if water providers in Southeastern Colorado move quickly to address the proposal with their separate boards of directors, formation of the quasi-governmental authority could begin as soon as next fall.
Barber said the greatest benefit a rural water authority could bring to the region would be the ability to gain access to grants and loans that would help solve the myriad problems water providers face today. Nearly all water providers aren’t eligible to apply for such funding currently because of their status as private, for-profit companies.
A rural water authority representing the nearly 40 water providers also would give those entities a stronger, united voice to address elected officials and regulatory agencies like the EPA, the Colorado Legislature and state and federal regulatory agencies.
The “taffy pull,” Barber said, or greatest challenge in forming an authority, could be determining how a board of directors would be structured and who would be eligible to vote in board meetings. Perhaps the best news Hancock and Barber offered, though, is that formation of a rural water authority would not require a region-wide vote in a general election.
By getting elected officials in each county to support creation of a rural water authority and a plan to raise funding for the entity through assessments on water users, each set of county commissioners could determine independently who would be “qualified electors” to vote on issues. Intergovernmental agreements between the water companies and their county governments, and agreements between the counties to establish the authority, would be sufficient under state law that regulates how rural water authorities must be operated. The authority would be fee-based, instead of mill-levy based.
“Each water provider could contract into the authority without an election, but (funding the authority) would require a fee from voluntary members,” Bent County Commissioner Bill Long said.
Long also provided a synopsis on how the proposed authority could tie into the Arkansas Valley Conduit, the project to pipe water from Pueblo Reservoir to Lamar, giving water providers access to a cleaner and more reliable source of water for decades to come.
Barber said assessing a small fee of $1 per water tap per year would be sufficient to generate enough revenue to fund the initial budget of $48,000, of which government entities would be asked to contribute $12,000 annually, with the remaining $36,000 coming from assessments made by members. That amount would be equal to the cost of a single bottled of water per year.
A panel discussion organized by Hancock showed solid support for a rural water authority has already emerged. The panels included Alan Frantz from Fayette Water Co., Norman Noe from South Swink Water Co. and Homestead Water Co., Ed Hunnicutt from Hunnicutt Water Co., Brett Dougherty from Bent’s Fort Water Co. and Holbrook Water Co., Hancock, who serves as conservation program manager for LAVWCD and head of Hancock Water Co. and Otero County Commissioner Kevin Karney.
Barber provides details
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A proposal to form a rural water authority in Otero, Bent and Prowers counties attracted nearly 50 people who represent county governments, rural water providers and other organizations to a meeting at Otero Junior College Tuesday night.
Nearly all of the 27 entities that provide water to Otero County residents heard Bill Hancock from Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District and Gary Barber from Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority explain the potential benefits of forming a rural water authority.
Barber said he and Hancock have been working for the past six months to identify problems rural water providers currently face and expect to encounter in coming years. They have also begun to identify solutions to those various problems, of which compliance with federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards will be paramount in the future and could pose tremendous financial burdens on the water providers, especially the smaller companies that have as few as 20 customers.
“Please join us in making this happen,” Barber said, noting that if water providers in Southeastern Colorado move quickly to address the proposal with their separate boards of directors, formation of the quasi-governmental authority could begin as soon as next fall.
Barber said the greatest benefit a rural water authority could bring to the region would be the ability to gain access to grants and loans that would help solve the myriad problems water providers face today. Nearly all water providers aren’t eligible to apply for such funding currently because of their status as private, for-profit companies.
A rural water authority representing the nearly 40 water providers also would give those entities a stronger, united voice to address elected officials and regulatory agencies like the EPA, the Colorado Legislature and state and federal regulatory agencies.
The “taffy pull,” Barber said, or greatest challenge in forming an authority, could be determining how a board of directors would be structured and who would be eligible to vote in board meetings. Perhaps the best news Hancock and Barber offered, though, is that formation of a rural water authority would not require a region-wide vote in a general election.
By getting elected officials in each county to support creation of a rural water authority and a plan to raise funding for the entity through assessments on water users, each set of county commissioners could determine independently who would be “qualified electors” to vote on issues. Intergovernmental agreements between the water companies and their county governments, and agreements between the counties to establish the authority, would be sufficient under state law that regulates how rural water authorities must be operated. The authority would be fee-based, instead of mill-levy based.
“Each water provider could contract into the authority without an election, but (funding the authority) would require a fee from voluntary members,” Bent County Commissioner Bill Long said.
Long also provided a synopsis on how the proposed authority could tie into the Arkansas Valley Conduit, the project to pipe water from Pueblo Reservoir to Lamar, giving water providers access to a cleaner and more reliable source of water for decades to come.
Barber said assessing a small fee of $1 per water tap per year would be sufficient to generate enough revenue to fund the initial budget of $48,000, of which government entities would be asked to contribute $12,000 annually, with the remaining $36,000 coming from assessments made by members. That amount would be equal to the cost of a single bottled of water per year.
A panel discussion organized by Hancock showed solid support for a rural water authority has already emerged. The panels included Alan Frantz from Fayette Water Co., Norman Noe from South Swink Water Co. and Homestead Water Co., Ed Hunnicutt from Hunnicutt Water Co., Brett Dougherty from Bent’s Fort Water Co. and Holbrook Water Co., Hancock, who serves as conservation program manager for LAVWCD and head of Hancock Water Co. and Otero County Commissioner Kevin Karney.
Barber provides details
As an expert on formation and operation of rural water authorities, Barber presented much greater detail on why an authority is needed and how it could potentially benefit.
After conducting six separate meetings with water providers in the Lower Arkansas Valley, Barber said the working group had develop a mission statement for an authority at this stage in its development. The four objectives would include:
1) Obtain funding to solve problems.
2) Move toward compliance (with safe drinking water standards).
3) Interact with large municipalities and the State of Colorado.
4) Deal with conduit issue.
According to Barber, benefits specific to forming the rural water authority include:
• The authority will be formed by two governmental entities, such as LAVWCD and a county government.
• All private water companies, water districts, counties and municipalities in the valley will be invited, but not required to join.
• The authority will be fee-based, not mill-levy based.
• Participants will pay a small, annual per-tap fee.
• No general election will be necessary to form the entity.
Some benefits of collaboration would include:
• Private water companies will become eligible for grant funding.
• Grant-writing, administration, accounting and auditing costs will be shared and paid for by the authority.
• Shared testing, certification and training expenses.
• Outlying systems could tie together conduit infrastructure.
• The authority will have higher standing in politics.
• Lobbying capacity.
• Engineering economy of scale.
• Sharing pilot studies.
• Preparing for the conduit (which could begin construction this decade).
