Lansford reappointed chair of water policy board

CLOVIS — A familiar face returned to the front of the Clovis water policy advisory board, and local partners had discussions on protecting water and securing future rights.

Mayor David Lansford was reappointed as chairman during the board’s regular meeting Tuesday at Clovis’ City Hall. Lansford rejoins the advisory board following the departure of former District 1 Commissioner and Chair Ladona Clayton.

David Robinson has been appointed to serve the final eight months of Clayton’s term, and has no plans to run for re-election in March. Lansford said while Robinson should do well succeeding Clayton on the public works committee, “the water issues are so vast it’s tough to get a grasp in eight months.” Lansford intends to serve until the March election, and whoever succeeds Robinson can work with fellow District 1 Commissioner Juan Garza to determine which of them will join the advisory board.

City officials, Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority Executive Director Orlando Ortega and EPCOR Water’s Mark Huerta each provided updates to the community.

• From a city front, Lansford told members the city was planning a 6 p.m. Tuesday presentation with King Industries at the Clovis-Carver Public Library’s Ingram Room.

The city first hired King Industries in February, approving spending up to $15,000 on the firm that includes former State Engineer Tom Blaine.

The firm is looking into the PFAS/PFOA contamination resulting from the decades-long use of firefighting foam by the Air Force.

It’s Lansford’s understanding that the Air Force is looking at hundreds of affected installations at once regarding cleanup.

“We want to be the site that gets picked first,” Lansford said, with hopes that King’s work will show the Air Force a local commitment to cleanup.

• City Manager Justin Howalt said a final walkthrough of Phase 1C of the effluent reuse water pipeline is set or Sept. 10. The phase takes the pipeline — which delivers water below drinking standards but suitable for watering fields and other municipal uses — to Worthington Ditch near Thornton Street.

Phase 1D will move the pipeline to Bob Spencer Park, and include installation of a 1 million gallon storage tank. Howalt said the city is working on grants for that phase now.

• Huerta said average delivery of water in July was 7 million gallons, about 61% capacity for EPCOR’s pumping.

“It’s been a fairly mild summer as far as demand,” Huerta said.

He noted a 6.28% rate increase has taken effect, and that the company is no longer collecting a conservation fee that it uses to fund rebate programs. The company has a surplus of money in its rebate program now, Huerta said, but applications are about half of what they were when the incentive program first began.

• Ortega said work is ongoing for the authority’s Finished Water 2 project, which creates a pipeline network from Cannon Air Force Base to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. So far, 26,000 linear feet of pipe is installed, which Ortega said represents about 70 percent of the project that has a Dec. 26 completion date.

“If anyone is interested in a site tour,” Ortega said, “We’re glad to do it. It’s pretty exciting to be able to show it.”

The authority has set aside $2.5 million for the Finished Water 3 project that would take the pipeline to Portales, and Ortega is hopeful for awards from the Bureau of Reclamation and the New Mexico Water Trust Board.

Raymond Mondragon of Eastern Plains Council of Government said he took a tour with Ortega and was amazed at the progress. He’s doubtful he’ll see any benefit from the interim pipeline project before it’s hooked up to the Ute Reservoir, but, “We’ve got to think about our grandchildren; we’ve got water, and they might not have water (if we don’t act).”

Ortega noted that Melrose and Grady have taken steps to withdraw from the authority, and that Curry County has debated its position on authority membership recently. The entities cited costs versus benefits to their residents, and Ortega said there are no hard feelings as the authority works with those entities who are bowing out.

“We’re doing it with respect to each other and cooperating with each other,” Ortega said. “We all care about each other, and we want to work in good spirit.”

District 3 Commissioner Fidel Madrid said what remained unaddressed about the project was whether the city or the water authority would be the entity to purchase water from landowners for eventual municipal distribution. Madrid felt the authority should take the lead in that regard.

Lansford said that issue was likely the next mountain in the journey, and noted a focus should be to incentivize landowners to option their water rights and help recharge the groundwater. Studies show, Lansford said, that one year of irrigated water use equals four years of municipal water use, so acquiring water rights from an irrigation farmer five years in advance banks 20 years of municipal use.

• The next meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Sept. 10.