Pagosa Springs Daily Digest Saturday, August 22, 2026
Ty's Take
The water fights never really end around here, they just cycle through different courtrooms and different names. This week we're watching Colorado get defiant with the feds over the Colorado River while our own county sits down to hash out what housing looks like in the next ten years, and those two things are more tangled together than people want to admit. You can't build new homes without water rights, you can't secure water rights without understanding what upstream and downstream mean, and you can't have that conversation without knowing the San Juans are burning hotter and faster than we've got money to stop. The Housing Action Plan draft is out there for review, which is good work toward something concrete. But everybody signing off on new rooftops better be thinking hard about where the water comes from when the next drought hits.
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Pagosa Daily Post
EDITORIAL: Shooting in the Dark… at Tax Targets, Part Seven
As Pagosa Springs faces a November vote on a proposed $125 million PreK-8 school facility on Vista Boulevard, an editorial outlines three reasons some property owners may vote no, including concerns that relocating schools from downtown would limit student access to the public library, parks, and...
As Litigation Looms, State Officials Defiant over Colorado River’s Future
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EVIL MISTRESS: A Lifelong Affair with Music, the Epilogue
DC Duncan, a drummer and musician for over fifty years, reflects on his lifelong musical career and the reconnections he made while writing about his experiences in Pagosa Springs. At 75 years old, Duncan shares humorous anecdotes about performing in various bands while offering a lighthearted...
READY, FIRE, AIM: Phil Weiser Goes Big, Against Meta
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Draft of Archuleta County ‘Housing Action Plan’ Available for Review
Archuleta County and the Town of Pagosa Springs are now accepting public feedback on a Draft Housing Action Plan designed to address affordable housing needs and expand local housing opportunities. The Pagosa Springs Town Council and Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners will review the...
Continental Divide Trail Coalition Reports on Community Survey
The Continental Divide Trail Coalition released results from its 2025 community survey showing that residents in five Rocky Mountain states, including Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and New Mexico, rank public lands and waters as having the greatest impact on quality of life. The survey of over...
Pagosa Springs Head Start Now Enrolling, Now Hiring
Pagosa Springs Head Start at 475 South 8th Street is now enrolling children ages 3 to 5 for its free preschool program, with flexible part-week options of 2 or 3 school days available. The organization is also actively hiring for career positions in early childhood education and values employees...
Scale of Wildfire Threats to Colorado Watersheds Far Exceeds Funding
Water managers in the Upper Yampa Water Conservation District near Yampa in southern Routt County are battling the combined threats of drought and wildfire risk as they work to protect watersheds above the Stillwater Ditch and Yamcolo Reservoir. A hand crew spent a month thinning overgrown forest...
OPINION: The Rich and Powerful Are Laughing
The U.S. national debt has surpassed $40 trillion, months ahead of projections, with annual net interest payments on federal debt now exceeding $1 trillion. While roughly 70 percent of the debt is held domestically, the richest 1 percent of U.S. households collect a disproportionate share of...
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