By Anya Kaats
The town of Crestone and the Baca Grande Water and Sanitation District (BGWSD) have signed a 20-year Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for BGWSD to process the town of Crestone’s wastewater.
While the town of Crestone has been paying BGWSD for ongoing wastewater treatment services since 2002, the two entities had been operating without a signed IGA since Feb. 2022.
Negotiations of the new IGA provoked questions among Baca residents about discrepancies between the cost they pay for wastewater treatment service versus what the town of Crestone pays.
On average, the town of Crestone currently accounts for around 20% of the monthly wastewater flow, and around 30% total Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). According to an Operations Update provided by BGWSD, in December 2024, “the town of Crestone contributed 21% of the treatment plant’s hydraulic load…and an average of 37% of the treatment plant’s organic load.” In that same month, BGWSD billed 844 Baca customers $41,967 and collected $4,149 from the Town of Crestone, roughly 10% of the amount billed to Baca customers.
In other words, while the Town of Crestone’s sewage accounts for over 20% of the total volume treated by BGWSD, the town pays only 10% of the cost of treatment. These costs do not include tap fees, maintenance fees, availability of service fees, transfer fees, consolidation fees, roughly 40% of property taxes paid to BGWSD by residents in the District, or any other fees paid to BGWSD by residents.
In a statement to The Crestone Eagle regarding the cost differences, Crestone Mayor Benjamin Byer explained the town owns and pays to maintain all its own infrastructure and is therefore not responsible for costs to maintain the Baca’s infrastructure. The BGWSD Board of Directors explained that while the district has approximately 40 miles of sewer pipe and five sewer lift stations, the waste from Crestone impacts 2 miles (5% total) of sewer pipe and just one lift station.
The board further clarified that according to the new IGA, the town will be responsible for paying their proportion of any capital improvements that need to be made at the treatment plant.
In an April 16 BGWSD Board of Directors meeting, BGWSD Director Rick Hart offered this explanation: “It’s a false equivalency to just look at flow rate.”
Hart went on to explain that if the town of Crestone was not a customer, BGWSD would still have the same plant operating at a much lower capacity and would still have to pay for staffing, maintenance, etc.
In this case, Hart said, without the town as a customer, Baca residents’ fees might be even higher than they are now.
“It’s very complex. Some of the imbalances that exist in pricing are historical and the district is doing its best to rectify them, or at least move things toward greater equity (with the new IGA),” Hart added.
According to the new IGA, the town will now remit an “Impact Fee” to BGWSD for each new customer that connects in an amount equal to 50% of the District’s Sewer Tap Fee, which is currently set at $5,000. The rate for treatment has also increased for the town. The rate per 1,000 gallons of flow will increase to $8.33 from $7.90 and the rate per pound of BOD will increase from $.991 to $1.05.
The BGWSD Board of Directors explanation included that “pricing is something the district takes very seriously.
The rates paid by Crestone are the result of a third-party rate study conducted in 2021 and updated in early 2025. The district strives to keep rates low for all customers by maximizing grant funding and believes that the rates being charged to the Town of Crestone are fair and equitable.”
“I know there is controversy over whether Crestone is paying its fair share,” said Byer, “But we went with what was decided on by BGWSD’s cost assessment.”
The new IGA will be in effect until December 31, 2044.