Minutes for the South Sacramento Water Group Meeting March 13, 2008
By Ellen Wedum, Secretary
(to be published in the May, 2008 issue of the Mountain Monthly)
The SSWG met in Weed on March 13, 2008, for a three-hour round-table discussion with guests invited by Chair Lou Wilkerson. Part One of this discussion was published in the April Mountain Monthly (page 38). The next meeting of the SSWG will be held May 8, 6pm, at the Mayhill Community Center. Hubert Quintana, the Executive Director of the SNMEDD/Council of Governments is the invited speaker. He will provide information on water distribution systems for water coops and associations.
Part Two.
Russ Wright asked about the water master situation. Andy Morley (from the State Engineers Office in Roswell) said that there is not yet a water master for the Peñasco Basin. They did initiate a search six months ago, but then the funds got redirected. They hope to reopen the search soon. They do have a pickup for the person who is hired! Elaine Wright asked if there had been a legal challenge filed, Morley answered in the affirmative. The Peñasco Basin includes Cloudcroft, Mayhill, Weed and Sacramento, but not Timberon or Piñon. County Commissioner Doug Moore said the goal is to have a water master for every basin. There may be a funding mechanism that allows you to be taxed if a stream runs through your property. John Conner asked where the money for the salary will come from. Morley replied that at present the salary is paid from the General Fund. This is how the Hondo water master is paid. But eventually people on the river system will be assessed. Wedum asked what if they have paper water rights, but no wet water? Morley suggested that the assessment may be based on actual water put to beneficial use. If there is no measurement by a water master, inequities in distribution cannot be corrected, and we need to try this. Wilkerson asked if water associations get any ‘first rights?’ Answer is no, seniority is just whatever is in the water right.
Getting back to water associations, Hubert Quintana (see above) has been helping communities to develop their ICIP (Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan). Being properly organized under state law will open doors for potential funding from various state entities in order to assist groups with their water infrastructure planning, maintenance, repair and replacement. Only SWCD and MDWCA, like Timberon and Twin Forks, are eligible for state funds. About 80% of water organizations are actually coops, not associations.
The first step is to register with the PRC as a Mutual Domestic Water Users Association (MDWUA). Quintana can assist with the paperwork and can be reached by phoning 575-624-6131 or by emailing hqsnmedd@plateautel.net. There is an application fee of $25, and at least 10% of the members must agree to the reorganization. Quintana is concerned that there are still a lot of folks that are only paying $10 a month for all the water they want to use. Water associations need to plan ahead. The SNMEDD also offers assistance with capital outlay requests.
One person asked how can water association members be convinced that an increase in fees is needed? Quintana admitted that this is the most difficult part of the process. But any financial aid grants are going to require that the water users pay reasonable water use fees and make some effort to cover the cost repairs with matching funds generated by the water system. It is impossible for the State to be able to provide 100% assistance to all of the ailing water systems in the State of New Mexico.
There are 600 registered water associations in the state but only 56 in the 5-county area (Lea, Eddy, Chaves, Lincoln and Otero). Marsha Slane pointed out that there are a lot of water groups in our area that are not organized and not registered. Quintana did send out letters to known associations offering his help, but many groups did not bother to reply.
County commissioner Doug Moore said that Quintana can demystify the whole process. He has an understanding of how systems work and what infrastructure is needed. He has software that can actually calculate the monthly fees that are needed for system maintenance. State Representative Nora Espinoza added that the legislators trust Quintana and the calculations he does.
After a short break there was a general discussion. Arden Schug from Timberon reported on two devices that Mario Gonzales of the NM Rural Water Association has available. One is a fairly expensive ultrasonic clamp-on flowmeter ($5,200) that helps find leaks, and the other is a pressure transducer data logger. The flowmeter was used in Cloudcroft to help find their leaks (see the article in the March issue of the Mountain Monthly). Asbill mentioned Senate Bill 227, the Pecos River Settlement, as the only significant water bill that passed during this session. A total of 1278 bills were introduced, 107 passed both houses and Governor Richardson signed 95 of them. Taxes were not increased even though the total budget was $6 billion. Capital outlay funds for this year were only 40% of last year, and Asbill feels this is due to the tax incentives provided to big companies that will mostly provide jobs in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. He wants more to be spent in our area. He mentioned that the state gas tax of 17 cents per gallon has not increased since 1985, and the purchasing power of the dollar has dwindled. He is concerned that the Railrunner program is taking up so much of these limited funds. Quintana pointed out that the cost of concrete and steel are not going to go down, as both China and India are greatly expanding their roads and transportation infrastructure which increases the demand for these materials. Evelyn Schultz pointed out that the Twin Forks MDWCA has received three state grants, totaling $640,000, because they are registered with ICIP. Albuquerque and the much-publicized red light cameras were also discussed.
Jeff Winkle asked what had happened with the letter the SSWG authorized Steve Cooks to write to the BLM commenting on their environmental assessment of proposed oil and gas drilling in the Otero Mesa. Steve sent the letter to John Beese, the person in charge of gathering comments, pointing out that the EA is lacking in two respects—one, the absence of a “no action” alternative, and two, proposed actions are not in compliance with New Mexico Oil Conservation District rules banning the use of waste pits in environmentally sensitive areas. He reported that he had received no response. State Senator Vernon Asbill and Doug Moore suggested that the letter needs to be sent to the new BLM Las Cruces district supervisor, instead of to Beese, who is only collecting comments, not replying to them. They also pointed out that is New Mexico is “going slow,” then Texas must do the same. Moore said that El Paso and Juarez are aggressively mining (non-sustainable removal) water from an underground river, and that water is coming from New Mexico, some from the Huerco basin. So far this does not seem to be having any negative effect on wells in the area.
The meeting was adjourned at 9pm.