Sacred Waters CO Temporarily Closing/Shutdown, as of July 3rd 2020 due to Covid Concerns & Severe Drought/Wildfire Conditions.

LATEST SACRED WATERS CO BLOG POST - UPDATES/INFO on OUR PROGRAMS, EVENTS, DONOR INFORMATION AND OF COURSE COVID-19 & DROUGHT CONCERNS.

Conservation Advocacy Rehabilitation Education 

Hello All,

Unfortunately, with great sadness & much regret we have temporarily shut down Sacred Waters CO again. With all the newest Covid concerns with ever escalating amounts of cases here locally, especially bad with our closest neighboring counties in SW CO and N NM as well as extreme hot spots/highest caseload areas from our main largest tourist/client bases of TX, OK, NM, AZ, & CA. "I hope we didn't jump the gun on this reopening date as stated in my last two email newsletters & blog posts we have been monitoring the Covid situation here locally and were waiting to see a decline in Covid cases which was improving till of course "Murphy's Law" prevails..."  ​ We at SWCO delayed opening back up till June 10th well after the state of Colorado started opening back up, and loosening restrictions as of April 27th. We monitored all covid data from April 27 to June 9th  while also putting in covid protocols in our donor/client guided fishing contracts & liability waivers even with all these precautions & covid data research Covid cases/issues continued to escalate as we suspected would happen especially with other counties &/or states varying drastically on how they handled or continue to handle this pandemic.

We were extremely excited downright surprised by the positive response from Donors, Clients, & Charity groups when we did reopen with many donations coming in daily and guided trips being booked up within a week of a somewhat late reopening & uncertain future. Even with the possible Covid, economic, wildfire, &/or drought concerns/issues by donors, clients, & charities we booked up every day from June 19th to July 15th with myself booked up solid everyday and a couple other guides booked up a few days each week too. But, many of you who follow my blog, receive our email newsletters, and/or follow our FB & IG Social media pages may have noticed a lot of news about Covid, Drought, Wildfires with a major lack of fishing & guiding reports or photos & videos well because we haven’t been guiding or even personally fishing too much. **(Please feel free to reference our SWCO FB Page or my/ Joe's Personal FB Page for all this Covid, wildfire, & drought news & the reasoning of our latest temporary closure/shutdown.)** Even with all our due diligence with our Covid concerns as we continued to monitor covid data as well as our current drought & wildfire situations we felt it was best to reschedule & cancel all these guided trips and charity events till we seen improvements in covid, as well as weather & water conditions from April 27th to present but everything just continues to get worse so after some emergency board & guide discussions over all this the past week we had decided to officially close back down for the foreseeable future. Thank you Donor members that paid that have been offered refunds with much thanks to you all, most did not even want refunded or only partial refund at most from the Sacred Waters CO, Inc. Fly-fishing Conservation Club dues for guide services which will definitely help towards recouping our expenses from required permitting, bonds, insurances, etc. that were due and paid throughout Jan.-April 2020, and also help with our future success be it in the short-term if everything does turn around and improve during this 2020 Season or in the long-term that we can keep paying the bills and be here for you all next year. Thank you, thank you for your continued support and understanding we do have some wonderful, generous, selfless, people in the Sacred Waters Community.
Not all is lost though please feel free to contact us anytime via telephone, email, social media messages via FB or IG, or on our website booking platform because we can Not predict the future we may at some period be able to justify possible early morning half days, high country/backcountry trips, at extremely strict Covid protocols and at a very limited capacity, with the right to refuse services at any time due to prospective clients not meeting or agreeing to our covid protocols or due to drought/water & weather conditions. As many of you who know us in the Sacred Waters Family we take pride in and hold much higher standards than most all outfitters and businesses in the area which is usually more with proper fisheries conservation, management, and protections but the same holds true and goes for protecting ourselves, our families, our friends, our donors/clients, our charities, and our Community. At best case scenario at present that we can see or predict at the moment any guide services at SWCO in 2020 will be on the Bronze Level #2 Donorship for High-country/Backcountry Public Land Trips as we already shut down all lower elevation, larger rivers/lakes locations about a week ago anyway due to low, lethally warm water conditions pretty well following in suite with the 2018 drought almost to the day. Those who may have been interested in Higher Level Donor Memberships in 2020 Plat., Gold, Silver, Bronze #1 Levels please be aware that we already shut down our Private Conservation Waters/Ranches about a week ago and cannot guarantee any private land trips will be possible in 2020, but as stated above we may do a few higher elevation  colder water guide trips on the National Forest/Wilderness Areas if we are comfortable with the Covid protocol agreements and fishing conditions at the times you may be interested in a guide trip. You will still receive the same donor gifts, same amount of allocated guided trip usage days, and tax-deductible receipts.  

"As stated in my last two blog posts & email newsletters our Donors have been AWESOME through all this mess with unsolicited donations coming in, 2020 Donor Member Renewals, and support all around. THANK YOU ALL! It means so very much to all of us here at SWCO, and too all we serve Thank You…. "
As for your personal fishing we strongly suggest for you to get outdoors, go fish, and have fun with all that’s going on in the world may be the best thing you can do for your mental & emotional well-being as well as your own health get out there enjoy some beneficial sunshine, fresh air, exercise while being smart and safe about it be it Covid protocols of social distancing, regular hand washing, and/or wearing face coverings/masks. If you do decide to get out trout fishing soon, please be smart and safe with the fisheries/fishes too. We are in what looks to be another looming record drought comparable to the record drought of 2018 if you want to trout fish please use a thermometer regularly at least every hour to monitor water temps and please stop trout fishing if water reaches 68F. Focus your efforts on higher elevation high-country/backcountry streams & lakes, bottom release tailwaters, early morning short trips, or as we at SWCO do regularly maybe #thinkoutsidethetrout by trying out for the 1st time or focusing your fishing more towards #warmwaterflyfishing trips for Bass, Carp, Catfish, Musky/Pike, Walleye/Perch, and/or Sunfishes/Panfishes instead of fishing for cold-water fishes like Trout or Salmon. You may open a Pandora’s Box of newfound excitement and adventures for years to come. Feel free to contact us for any advice on warmwater fly-fishing techniques, locations, etc… we will get you on the right track to successful multi-species angling. More details on water temperature monitoring, finding the proper ethical guide services, and other drought issues/concerns please refer to these former Blog posts from the 2018 drought linked here.

Donor Member Info/Updates: 
*In addition to everything stated above.*
Newly added Covid-19 Protocols. Please read the New 2020 Donor Contract and if 1st time Donating or renewing your annual Donor Membership please follow instructions in Contract, print out as double-sided/both sides as this is how contract is formatted to be printed and will reduce the use/waste of paper thank you.

Donor Gifts: Most all Donor Gift Packs had been mailed out and most of you should have received your gift pack months ago. If you had not please contact me and I can track the shipment. I did not send 2 Plat. donor gift packs due to the Covid shut down some products are still backordered will get them to you ASAP when I receive the last products. Did have 1 return to sender from an undeliverable address but too will get it to you when I see you all.

Weather Forecasts/Outlook: Click Links 
Present week's forecast

8-14 Day Extended Weather Outlook​​

Water Conditions:
https://dwr.state.co.us/surfacewater/data/division.aspx?div=7

Colorado Drought Monitoring/Plan:
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.eichelberger1/posts/3312455158785755 

Charity Events 2020:   
Southern Ute/Ignacio Jr. High SoCoCaa Events Schedule for 2020.
January 2020
1/18/20 – Ice fishing Field Trip
1/22/20- Fly-Tying Class
February 2020
2/8/20- Ice Fishing Day Trip
2/19/20- Fly-Tying Class.
March 2020 –
3/21/20-3/22/20- Overnight- XC ski trips, Chaco Canyon tour, &/or Fly Fishing Trips- CANCELLED!
April 2020
4/15/20- Knots/Rigging & Fly tying - CANCELLED!
4/18/20- Fly Fishing Day Trip- Location TBD on Water & weather Conditions - CANCELLED!
May 2020
5/2/20- Whitewater Rafting- Location- San Juan River Pagosa Springs, CO. - CANCELLED!
June 2020- No Events due to Covid restrictions, concerns, and protocols.
July 2020
07/14/20- Fly Fishing Day Trip- Location TBD on Water & weather Conditions. On Schedule/Calendar
The rest of 2020 SoCoCaa Events To be Determined…. CANCELLED! 
August 2020-
Mid- late August- ( date to be determined)  Possible Multi-day camping and fishing trip TBD on Covid concerns, and water/weather conditions.  

Pagosa Springs Girl Scouts Troop:
Scheduling delayed due to current COVID-19 concerns. In discussions as of July 2020 of future scheduling.

Veterans Groups/Events:
​PHWFF of DFW- To Be Determined due to COVID-19, and possible economic uncertainties.
PHWFF of Ft. Hood- To Be Determined due to COVID-19, and possible economic uncertainties.
Patriot Anglers of N. TX & S. OK - To Be Determined due to COVID-19, and possible economic uncertainties.
Dark Horse Marines- To Be Determined due to COVID-19, and possible economic uncertainties.
Please​ review the FB & IG Social Media Pages and our Websites. I hope it can help show you all more easily and clearly the Efforts and Accomplishments SWCO has put forth with you and other donors’ generous donations. These Social Media Pages are updated with the most up to date need to information almost daily.

Donate Today and help us protect our local fisheries and provide the healing benefits of outdoor therapy to as many people as possible. We can't really predict or control/change the weather, but we can provide the best fishing at the best times and protect our waters and fishes at the worst times. We can only accomplish this with your generous donations.  

​We want to hear from you. Email us at admin@sacredwaters.co​
or give us a call (970)444-2187 or (970)731-1443
and we’ll be in touch! Thank you for your interests & support of SWCO.

(* Sacred Waters CO, Inc. and Sacred Waters CO Foundation are Equal Opportunity Employers and Service Providers working through Special Use Permits from USDA San Juan National Forest Pagosa District and the State of Colorado. Licensed/Permitted, Bonded & Insured Outfitter in Colorado #OUT.0003217 *) ​
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Thank You, Tight Lines;

Joseph Eichelberger   
Founder, President of Sacred Waters Co
Professional Angler, Custom Fly Tyer/Designer
Freelance Outdoors Writer, Photographer, & Fisheries Consultant