It looked for a moment that a gushing water line in east Walsenburg was to blame for taps running dry, a disaster declaration, boil water advisory and a hectic weekend of water challenges.
But the water issues didn’t stop there.
Walsenburg, a city of about 3,000 people in Huerfano County, reported a water-line break around 2 a.m. Friday. Water pressure plummeted in households, leaving residents largely without water. Local schools closed, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife offered hot showers at nearby campsites.
The city was initially losing about 800 gallons per minute, but it rose to more than 2,000 gallons per minute by Monday afternoon, according to news reports. The water pressure seemed to be rising back to normal after crews worked to repair the leaking pipe, located in a field near East Seventh Street and South Madison Avenue. The line delivers water to a city wastewater treatment plant, Huerfano Correctional Facility and the city’s industrial park.
Then the pressure plummeted again, Walsenburg Mayor Gary Vezzani said.
“We got it kind of shut off as best we could,” he said. “We started getting pressure back in Walsenburg. We had water last night, and we lost it sometime this morning, and I cannot find out why.”
It was not clear what caused the water pressure in south Walsenburg to fall again, and as of Tuesday morning, he did not have a time estimate for when water services would return to normal.
Vezzani issued a seven-day disaster declaration Friday, saying it was beyond the city’s capacity to respond to and recover from the water line break alone. The county’s disaster management team, the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross stepped in to help. Denver Water sent experts to assist with identifying the problem.
“We’re a pretty small bunch,” Vezzani said, noting only seven or eight city employees available to help with the issue.
The city canceled its council meeting scheduled for Tuesday night, in part because city hall didn’t have any water, Vezzani said.
The Las Animas-Huerfano Counties District Health Department issued an ongoing boil water advisory Friday, saying the low water pressure could allow disease-causing organisms, like bacteria, viruses and parasites, to enter the water system. These organisms can cause symptoms like nausea, cramps, diarrhea and headaches.
The advisory instructed residents to flush water lines if tap water appears dirty, avoid ice from automatic household icemakers, and to boil water or use bottled water for food preparation, brushing teeth, drinking or washing dishes.
Walsenburg Jr. Sr. High School and Peakview Schools will close Wednesday and Thursday, Bobby Howard, superintendent for Huerfano School District RE-1, said. The schools also closed Monday and Tuesday due to the citywide water issues, and school events, like winter sports pictures, have been rescheduled.
“We realized we still have about 25% of the homes, for sure, that don’t have water. We’re still in a boil order,” Howard said.
The district worked with the county emergency management staff and school administrators to make sure closing was the right call, he said.
For residents looking for a hot shower, Colorado Parks and Wildlife offered free shower facilities at Lathrop State Park. Reservations were still available as of Tuesday afternoon, and community members can call 719-738-3000, ext. 512, to reserve a 30-minute time slot.
For some Walsenburg residents, like Candice Knowles, this water problem is just another day in Walsenburg.
“This happens normally three times a year. This time is quite different because it’s happening to everybody and not just one block or one house,” Knowles said. “This one is crazy because once the water gets turned on, you think they fix it, and all of the sudden they find another leak.”
Knowles and Brendt Berger, the owner of the Museum of Friends, took the weekend’s water issues in stride. Knowles normally buys gallons of water, and Berger said he got water bottles from the county this week.
“I got here this morning and there was no water pressure,” Berger said. The museum is closed Sunday and Monday, so the main impact so far has been having to cancel a business meeting because of the lack of water, he said.
The city rebuilt its water treatment and sewer treatment plants, partly to help provide water to a new prison, Vezzani said. The city refinanced the two plants in 2017 and borrowed around $20 million as part of the process. Now they’re tapped out on borrowing more, he said.
The city’s pipes, however, are at least 70 years old, Vezzani said.
Aging infrastructure is a widespread issue in Colorado and the nation, causing leaks and racking up a mountain of future costs that water providers will need to address, often by raising water rates.
In 2022, Colorado identified $19 billion in unfunded projects solely for wastewater systems. A 2012 national report showed that Western states may need to spend more than $409 billion through 2050 replacing pipes, gauges, canals and other parts of a water system. The national price tag could be more than $1.7 trillion.
“They’ve kind of kicked the can down the road over the years,” Vezzani said. “We can’t even borrow any more money to start replacing lines, which has to happen one day. It’s kind of the thing that nobody sees. It’s underground, and as long as they’re working, they let it go another year.”
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