Ask why Boyd Workman, Ashley Valley Water and Sewer district manager, has chosen to retire now and he’s likely to say “cause it’s time.”

“I’ll be 71 years old next year,” says Workman, “And, I have a 120-acre farm, 40 grandkids, a new wife and a 91-year-old father who just retired from the Vernal Fire Department.”

Also, Workman will stay on as a member of the Rural Water Association of Utah Board and keep his trustee position on the Central Utah Water Conservancy District Board.

Apparently, slowing down is not in the Workman vocabulary.

“I enjoy working with the water” says Workman, who is running to return to the district’s board. “But, I’ll be retiring from every day management on Oct. 1.”

Workman started on the district board in 1982 and moved up from there to district manager in 1988.

“I’ve been at this job for 21 years,” Workman says. “When I started the budget was in the red and now, we operate in the black.”

“I think we wouldn’t be a district without Boyd,” says Nora Garcia, district clerk, who has worked with the district for the past eight years.

A lot has changed since Workman’s arrival on the job. Ashley district’s budget in 1988 was near $1 million and this year it’s $9.7 million.

“When I came on our water system dated from 1962 with about 500 connections,” he says. “We now have almost 4,000 connections with about 125 miles of distribution.”

Back then, most of the district money and energy was spent repairing leaks and pipeline breaks.

“I arrived in 1983 and most of our time was spent repairing repairs,” says Dave Hatch, assistant manager, who will replace Workman. “Over the years we rebuilt most it. Less than 5 percent of the really old system remains.”

Hatch says in the 1980s system operations were split between Vernal City, Ashley Valley Water and Sewer and the Maeser Water Improvement Districts. There was considerable rancor among the entities.

“It’s really been Boyd’s knowledge that helped us get community impact board grants and loans,” Hatch says. “We were able to build from virtually no sewer system to 75 miles and 2,800 sewer connections.”

“We now have about eight community impact loans totaling $4.6 million that will build a new tank and three miles of waterlines up by Ashley Gorge,” says Workman of ongoing district improvements.

At one point, Workman was the manager of one water treatment plant and director of the other. It provided a level of continuity that smoothed over internal operations.

“He’s really done a fantastic job,” says Darrell Lance, district board chairman. “He has an institutional knowledge of the district that makes him a good manager.”

Workman, acknowledges of the board’s support, but says the key has been to shift to service-related operations.

“I inherited a general obligation tax debt of $5 million when I started,” he say, “which we paid off several years ago. Our goal was to make payment for services able to sustain operations, so there is no increase in taxes.”

Good goal.

Over the years, upgrades and up-sizing has made the Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Improvement District one of the best in the state says Workman.

Ask Workman about water and he’ll start by saying, “I love working in water,” and he still does.

mbernard@vernal.com