LPWWA charges for water use by their subscribers and will also sell water through a bulk water station. We also have, and hope to receive funding through grants and loans. Our previous generous contributors have helped tremendously as shared before: 

As we are all very well aware that to move water from one place to another it takes more than strong needs, hard work, and motivation as evident by Roy’s account of our formation. It takes something more… It takes money! Because the shovel gives way to the backhoe and strong needs and motivation give way to financial obligations.

So to recognize all the generous financial contributors, here is a brief account of the funding that took our strong needs, hard work, and motivation that brought us here today.

For the intake structure with great endeavors by Gene Bradley we secured funding from Southwest Round table in Cortez and Colorado Water Conservation Board’s Statewide Roundtable for $1,100,000. Southwestern Water Conservation District’s non interest loan of $60,000, was obtained to fund the preliminary engineering for the intake structure’s construction.

We were then blessed to have the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe contribute $3,000,000 and $1,500,000 respectively from Resource Funds of the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement of Act 2000. While these funds were being obtained, Colorado Water Resource and Power Development provided a 5.6-million-dollar line of credit that allowed LPWWA to proceed with the construction of the Intake Structure. As you may recall the structure was completed just weeks before the waters of Lake Nighthorse covered its portals!

But it doesn’t end there. What good is an intake structure without a pipeline that will allow for transportation of the water to a facility for treatment in preparation of its use, to fulfill the strong needs of many. For the next several years LPWWA pushed forward_applying for grants, hiring an engineer, writing rules & regulations & policies, worked on agreements with our partners and other governmental agencies, doing studies, research, environmental & cultural surveys, reviewing options in an effort to move toward building a foundation of supporters for a domestic water system. During these years, with financial backing from Southwestern Water Conservancy District of $114,500, we moved forward, built momentum.

Lake Durango Water Authority’s endeavors to find an alternative water supply to elevate stress on their situation were able to secure funding from Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) of $2,800,000 for construction of this raw water pipeline. LPWWA’s Tribal Partners were also able again to use Resource Funds too further enable funding of the construction of the Pipeline, each contributing $1,000,000.  LPWWA, with fore-thought, were able to secure additional funding of $500,000 CWCB’s Southwest Round Table statewide account for the enlargement a section of pipeline for needed capacity of their future demand.

Recently, the substantial support of the Animas La Plata Water Conservancy District and Southwest Basin’s Water Supply Reserve Account, each committed funds of $25,000 for both 2016 and 2017 to go towards engineering, general operation and Pre-Construction Activities. 

These generous contributors who believed in us, gave us something more…The one thing that allows for us to fulfill strong needs, continue our hard work, and keep us motivated, …and for that we are truly grateful. Because without all their generous help we would not be standing here today breaking ground_ making history.  From all of us at LPWWA, Thank you so very much!