Many Beulah residents still without running water, water district says future is uncertain
BEULAH, Colo. (KRDO) - Gary Kyte says he's gotten really good at brushing his teeth and washing his hair with only one 16oz bottle of water. Kyte's home doesn't have running water right now and hasn't for close to a month.
Only leftover water in the pipes dribbles out of the faucet when turned on.
"You don't really realize what a luxury it is until it's gone," He said. Kyte's a long-time Beulah resident, only leaving periodically for jobs but always coming back.
Kyte admits he's probably got it better than most Beulah residents right now. His home is still standing and recently got electricity again. Plus, he has the luxury of owning another property outside of the valley, but still spends a lion's share of his time in Beulah.
"I can run up [to my other property] every week and a half and get all my clothes clean and get showered up, get water supplies, and be able to come back down here to a functioning house, you know, just minus water. That right now is being very fortunate in Beulah," Kyte said.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says the Pine Drive Water District and Signal Mountain Ranch Property Owners Water Company are the two water districts still under a bottled water notice.
That's a step further than a boil water notice.
"The state has given us a series of tests and cleanings and various things that we have to do before we can get up and provide water again, even in ideal conditions, and we are not facing ideal conditions," Interim District Manager for Pine Drive Water, Charissa Fryberger, said.
Not helping the situation is the heavy rain hitting Beulah all this week.
"The creeks look like ink. And with all of that ash in there, we're going to have to have other things, other additions to our treatment system to get the ash out," Fryberger said.
Cleaning the water system is the biggest challenge facing the water district. Fryberger says when the "Aspen Acres" fire destroyed homes, it opened up the water taps to the elements, letting water run out and allowing ash to come in.
"It took 70 houses out of 166 taps. It also burned over all four of our tank sites, burned around our plant," she said.
Fixing all of that is not cheap.
"We have had a hard time getting access to the state or federal emergency money. We're currently trying to work with Senator Hickenlooper and Bennet's offices. We are working with [Pueblo] county commissions, who have been very responsive to us," Fryberger said. "We're just sending out S.O.S. with whoever can help us access FEMA money. FEMA hasn't raised their head for us at all."
Fryberger estimates water will be running in Pine Drive Water District homes within a couple of weeks. However, that won't necessarily be the end of the problem. Fryberger said if more issues come up they might have to shut the water down.
Tonight at 6:30 P.M., the Pine Drive Water District is holding a public meeting at the Beulah Fire House. The public is welcome to attend and ask questions.
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