Addressing water worries

CLOVIS - Presenters told the south Clovis residents in attendance Tuesday that their concerns with water access were not forgotten and encouraged them to keep active in letting those concerns be known.

The meeting Tuesday evening, held at the Clovis-Carver Public Library's North Annex and coordinated by the Eastern Plains Council of Governments, was centered on the recent establishment of infrastructure from water utility provider EPCOR. Representative Mark Huerta spoke to additional water lines that had been moved in near County Road 4 and said connections could also be established at CR 5, 6, and 7.

That won't come without a cost, though, and representatives of Western Bank were also on hand with loan applications offering a proposed avenue for making those connections. Some attendees stated concerns in the past with their income being too much to qualify for grants, but not enough to finance those connections themselves.

"There's power in numbers," EPCOR representative Tom Torres told those assembled. "The more of you that do come together and tie into the line..."

Ken Jaquess, who lives near state road 467 between county roads 5 and 6, said it was essential for residents to "be committed." Right now water access is a proximate issue for those living south of Clovis, but as experts have identified the decline in Ogallala Aquifer levels it will ultimately be an issue "whether you live in the county or the city," he added.

Establishing a longterm water supply is the main project of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority, whose Administrator Orlando Ortega also presented in the Tuesday meeting. Ortega spoke on the latest developments in the Ute Water Pipeline project and the interim groundwater project, but advised it would be at least six years in the best case scenario before accessing an interim groundwater supply from paleochannels 16 miles north of Clovis.

"I know it's frustrating, especially for those of you that are running out of water," EPCOG's director of economic development and government affairs Raymond Mondragon told the two dozen attendees, which included a number of Clovis city and Curry County commissioners.

Mondragon told The News previously that invitation letters were sent to 56 residents and that about 30 of those use wells that are going dry.