The La Plata Archuleta Water District, preparing to break ground on its first pipeline network, has received $500,000 from state sources to further the project. A Colorado Water Conservation Board grant will cover $475,000, with the remainder coming from the Southwest Basin Roundtable’s share of the Water Supply Reserve Account. Ground breaking is scheduled Nov. 13. Water will be available for the district’s first customers next year, Steve Harris, the district’s engineer, said Friday. Long-range plans envision serving 400 square miles, first in southeast La Plata County and later southwest Archuleta County. Talk of forming the district began at least in the early 1990s. Opponents of the Gopher Hole Project organized to oppose the idea, saying it was too expensive and opened the door for developers to subdivide. In 2010, voters approved the mill levy to buy equipment for treatment and distribution of water. Opponents were allowed to opt out, which means they won’t pay the mill levy. A change of heart by an original opponent or a new property owner would require applying to join the district, pay the requisite petition fees and the $5,550 tap fee. A contract with Pine River Irrigation District gives the La Plata Archuleta district 200 acre-feet of water a year from Vallecito Reservoir, the source of most of Bayfield’s water.

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