Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to more precisely reflect the condition of the culvert the ditch owners want replaced.

A group of ranchers from the West Arm Ditch Company is refusing Ouray County’s offer to reinstall a faulty culvert this year if the water users pay for the materials, saying they shouldn’t have to pay for county infrastructure.

“It’s you guys’ responsibility,” yelled Richard Weber II, before leaving the room at a county commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday.

The water users, including the Weber Ranch and Ferguson Family Ranches, previously approached commissioners and asked them to replace the culvert under County Road 23 immediately ahead of a low-water season.

Road and Bridge Superintendent Ty Barger said the culvert was installed after the previous culvert running under the road caved in. The culvert was installed at the current depth due to a pre-existing gas line under the culvert. That gas line no longer is located there, and the water users want the culvert installed deeper to make it function better. The water users argue they have routinely cleared out the culvert in order for water to flow to their ditches.

Barger said he tried to reach a compromise considering the replacement wasn’t in his budget this year. He asked the company to pay for the cost of the culvert itself, $7,400, less than a third of the total estimated project cost of $27,000. Otherwise, County Manager Antonio Mendez said the county could schedule the replacement on its own timeline in 2027.

At Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting, representatives from the ditch company asked the county to reconsider and said they needed the fix now and didn’t want to set a precedent of having to pay for county infrastructure.

“I understand it’s a bad budget year for you guys, and it’s a horrible water year for us,” said Sarah Smedsrud, a representative from the ditch company and a member of the Weber Ranch family.

Smedsrud said the culvert also poses a risk, considering the previous culvert failed.

Commissioners Jake Niece and Michelle Nauer reiterated that there isn’t room in the budget for the county to purchase a replacement culvert this year, leaving the conversation at a stalemate.

“It’s not our responsibility to buy a culvert, the same as it’s not your responsibility to clean our ditch,” said Tyler Ferguson, another representative from the ditch company.

“It’s not a precedent that we’re not willing to set,” he said.