Bayfield had violated its sewage discharge permit limits before. But the sewage hit the lagoon, so to speak, when the Southern Ute Indian Tribe stepped in. Complaining that Bayfield's sewage was polluting the Pine River and threatening its drinking water, the tribe asked the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in a letter dated Feb. 27, 2006, to issue a cease-and-desist order on all new construction. The agency did so in April 2006. The tribe takes its drinking water 1.2 miles downstream from Bayfield's discharge point. "It is troubling that the Bayfield Sanitation District has been discharging pollutants into the river in amounts that exceed the district's permit limitations," tribal Chairman Clement J. Frost wrote in 2006. Many Bayfield leaders believe the tribe pushed state officials to take a hard line on the town's sewage violations. "It's caused the state to react differently than they might in other situations," said Town Manager Justin Clifton. Ed Morlan, chairman of the Bayfield Sanitation District, agreed. 

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