LaPlata Archuleta Water District (LAPLAWD)

LAPLAWD incorporates five Districts. Each district is proportionate in population size. To see which District your represented by: District Map. Board of Directions Profiles are below.

District 1: Marvin Conrad

Marvin Conrad is a 4th generation Pine River Valley Resident. His current ranching operation was established in 1952. He returned to the area in 1976 to run the operation after his father's retirement. He has two kids that are graduates of Bayfield High School. His son, Scott, lives in Bayfield with his wife Christy and sons Ty and Shea. His daughter, Tamara, lives in Aurora, Colorado. Marvin's wife, Catherine, recently retired after 30 plus years as administrative assistant at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis.

He is active within the Pine River Valley Heritage Society, Colorado and La Plata Archuleta Cattlemen's Association, Board of Directors Southwest Colorado Federal Credit Union and La Plata County Weed and Rodent Committee.

District 2: Mark Williams

District 3: Gregg D. Johnson

Gregg Johnson runs a farming operation in the Oxford area and owns a transportation business that specializes in agricultural hauling. Gregg, as a 30-year La Plata County resident and a rancher and farmer, has developed a deep interest in water issues. He served as a roundtable member on the Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI) as a member of the local roundtable in the first section and on the statewide roundtable on the final section.

Gregg, a graduate of Colorado Agriculture and Rural Leadership (CARL) program, is also a board member of Morrison Consolidated Ditch Co. and has served as President of La Plata/Archuleta County Farm Bureau.

"Most residents of eastern La Plata County have been fortunate to have a marginal aquifer to supply them with groundwater. This aquifer has been greatly enhanced though a hundred plus years of flood irrigation, which recharged and added to the aquifer. Two factors are greatly impacting our marginal aquifer. Hundreds of acres a year are converted to more efficient sprinkler irrigation. This provides little in the way of recharge to the aquifer. This coupled with our population growth will surely lead to a diminished groundwater supply in our area."

"I have always been a believer in limited government, however there are some functions that can be accomplished best by a governmental entity, as long as the bureaucrats are held with a tight rein."

"I am running for this position to see that this district is established as an entity that adheres to the following goals. First: build the system quickly and efficiently using the most cost effective methods. Second: keep the debt load as minimal as possible by working to obtain as much funding through cost share and grants. Third: implement a system such as a sliding tap fee to reward those who receive water later in the systems construction. Finally: upon completion of construction reduce mil-levy to no more than the level necessary to service the long term debt.'

District 4: Dan Lynn

One of the key issues in the Western United States has been, and continues to be, water. We hear frequently of concerns related to water rights, particularly during these times of drought when there is not enough water to meet the needs of all who rely on this life-sustaining resource.

Issues of water coupled with significant population growth and
significant oil and gas development in this area of Colorado make the establishment of a domestic water system increasingly important for rural residents.

Having worked for Natural Resources Conservation Service for 30+ years in various areas of the State I am familiar with water legislation, water rights, and the impact of growth on water use. I was a member of the President's Honor Guard in Washington, D.C. during my Army days and graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Natural Resource Management.

I would like to begin now to establish a domestic water system for the east side of La Plata County and west side of Archuleta County to meet future needs. Trouble with an aquifer could come at any time and for any number of reasons. At that point it will be too late to take the systematic and cost-effective deliberate steps to put a system in place as we will all be making our own arrangements for wells that no longer produce the quantity and/or quality of water they once did.

Will establishment of a domestic water system be cheaper in the future? This is not likely the case. Now is the time to act for the future.

My family and I have lived in the San Juan Basis for almost 30 years and we care about our neighbors and our ability to maintain a viable water system for rural residents.

District 5: Dick Lunceford

"I am a 26 year resident of La Plata County. I became involved in trying to develop a rural domestic water system for southeast La Plata County about 13 years ago. My strongest motive in trying to create a water system for this area remains affordable living options for all economic classes in La Plata County."

"Water development without a rural delivery system will only become more expensive through time. Our population in this part of the county is doubling about every 30 years, and the aquifer that supplies most of the existing residences and new growth is in decline. More and more existing residents will be forced to haul water in the future or spend increasingly large sums of money maintaining and developing new water wells. The lack of easily available water will not stop growth, but it will mean that those with modest economic means will have difficulty being able to live here."

"This would be a tragedy since one of the factors that make La Plata County such a great place to live is that we are not a community that caters only to the wealthy. We, so far, have been able to provide living situations for a broad range of economic classes. A water system for southeast La Plata County, where land is somewhat affordable, will assure that we are able to continue into the future.