At the end of January, Dolores residents will pay an extra $10 on their monthly water bills to help support the town’s water project.
For residents in town, that translates to a new bill of $50.52 a month; for those outside of town, that’s $67.54.
Right now, Dolores is in the second of a six-phase water project that’ll take about 20 years and $4.3 million to complete, said Dolores Town Manager Leigh Reeves.
Of that, $400,000 is for design, and “DOLA gave us $200,000 for that purpose,” Reeves said.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett has pledged $750,000 for the project, and the town will apply for a $1 million grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and another $1 million grant from the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment.
The town will pay for the rest with a low-interest loan, Reeves said.
The first phase of the project put new main waterlines under the highway, and this next phase will run new, 8-inch pipes alongside the existing 4-inch pipes, as “it’s easier to lay new lines than to replace the old lines,” Reeves said.
The existing pipes in town are not only small, they’re also aged: Some of them are 74 years old.
“That’s older than me,” Reeves said with a laugh.
Plus, in the past 10 months, the existing pipes have leaked twice.
They usually leak on Fourth Street, though a few have leaked on Sixth in the past, and once on 17th, Reeves said.
This second phase of the project, then, will make for a more “consistent supply (of water), fewer outages, increased efficiency and improved fire flow,” according to a flyer detailing the project and placed inside Dolores residents’ mailboxes.
Phase III, which will happen a few years from now, will be to install a new water tank.
“The town will have a different feel, even if it’s all underground,” Reeves said.
