What the district has actually posted.

Lake Durango Water Authority started Stage 2 on August 1, 2026. The reasons given are ongoing drought and a project to refurbish LDWA’s main 400,000-gallon tank. During that work — described as about two months — LDWA runs on auxiliary tanks and has less water to send up the hill. Durango West 2 has to follow LDWA’s restrictions.

This guide was compiled at the end of September 2026, right at the end of that two-month window. Confirm on the district site that Stage 2 is still the active stage before you set a sprinkler.

The rules

• One watering day per week, two hours maximum, either before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
• No outside watering on Sunday.
• The district map assigns each area a pair of days. Water on only one of them.
• Green area: Monday or Thursday. Yellow: Tuesday or Friday. Pink: Wednesday or Saturday.
• A hose needs a sprinkler or shutoff. An open hose cannot be left running.
• No washing cars, boats, or RVs.
• Don’t fill tanks, ponds, pools, koi ponds, waterfalls, or landscape ponds. Livestock is the stated exception.
• Don’t let water run into driveways, ditches, or roads.
• Potted plants may be watered any time with a bucket or watering can.

The district’s stated priority is indoor use — cooking, bathing, toilets — and keeping storage at or above what the state expects for firefighting. This page does not reprint the colored street map. Use the map on the district notice to see which pair of days applies to your house.

The district homepage is currently leading with bear season. Bears use DW2 in spring, when they leave the den, and again from late summer into fall while they put on weight. Coyotes and mountain lions are part of the same foothill edge. The county’s Living with Wildlife Advisory Board calls the approach WildSmart: don’t create the conflict in the first place.

• Leave trash containers inside until the morning of pickup day.
• La Plata County can fine at least $200 for trash that isn’t secured from wildlife.
• The advisory board recommends not feeding songbirds from April through November. Feeders pull bears in.
• If you hang hummingbird feeders, bring them in at night.
• Pet food, greasy grills, and fruit left on the ground count as food, too.

Bear Smart Durango has the longer local guide. The county Living with Wildlife page is the official companion to the district’s PDF.

Meetings and officers

Meetings for 2026 are the third Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. in the Mail Building at the entrance. The board is dark in March, May, July, and December. Agendas go on the district website.

Officers chosen at the January meeting: Carly Thomson, president; Beverly Lawrence, vice president; Derek Ryter, treasurer.

Accounts and the mail building

The February note asked residents to start the year by reading the bill — late charges, water overages, old balances, and credits all change what you actually owe. Pay the amount due, not last year’s autopay guess.

Nothing gets left at the Mail Building. No boxes, no free piles. The entrance has to stay clear for residents and for the carrier.

Winter roads

• Street parking is prohibited. Cars and trailers block plows and sight lines. There are no sidewalks.
• Slow down. People walk the roadway to avoid ice.
• Do not push driveway snow into the street. Put it on your own lot.
• The road easement runs about 10–15 feet onto lots. The plow may leave snow there so the driving surface stays wide.
• Clean the gutter in front of your place: leaves, needles, dirt, and pebbles. Packed debris dams meltwater and breaks up the asphalt edge.

The same letter restates what the district is: a Colorado special district that charges fees for water, sewer collection, wastewater treatment, and maintenance of roads and open space. It is not an HOA. It does not enforce covenants.

These are the usage tiers published on the district’s water-rates page for 2026. They are not the metro fee itself. The Services page has a calculator that applies the steps to a gallon number.

• 0–6,000 gallons: included in the monthly metro fee
• 6,001–8,000 gallons: $7 per thousand
• 8,001–10,000 gallons: $10 per thousand
• 10,001–15,000 gallons: $15 per thousand
• 15,001–30,000 gallons: $25 per thousand
• Above 30,000 gallons: $50 per thousand

A household that stays at or under 6,000 gallons pays no usage charge. Someone using 9,000 gallons is into the $10 tier: $14 for the slice from 6,000 to 8,000, plus $10 for the next thousand, $24 on top of the metro fee.

Durango West MD No. 2, public water system CO0134190, published its 2025 report on 2024 testing. The district’s summary line is that the report shows no violations or formal enforcement actions. Questions in that report go to district manager Jane Looney at 970-259-3946.

Part of the supply is wholesale water from Lake Durango Water Authority (PWS CO0134530). The district report points readers at LDWA’s own 2025 report for that share of the water. Both sources are disinfected. Well water is harder and can smell sulphury; lake water can taste off when the lake turns over. The district’s position, repeated in its FAQ, is that both are safe to drink and tested.