Lateral pipeline to go to Texico

CLOVIS — The Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority, while building its initial water infrastructure to connect Clovis and Portales, aims to add laterals to also deliver bulk water to authority members Texico and Elida.

The city of Clovis, meanwhile, has received state economic development funds to extend its water system to the Clovis Regional Airport off of NM 523, which connects Clovis and Texico.

During an hour-long Wednesday study session, authority members and Texico village representatives felt it just made sense to build its Texico lateral by hitching a ride to the airport and then handling the last few miles to Texico with 12 to 14 months of construction expected.

“This is truly, I think, the best option,” said Mike Morris, Clovis mayor and authority chair. “The team at Clovis is so good, and we were successful getting the (economic development) grant.”

Eight people attended the session, including two from Texico — authority board member and Village Councilor Max Carter and Mayor Pro Tem Oran Autrey.

The session was far from the last time to talk details on the project, as Authority Executive Director Orlando Ortega said that answering various questions now is the best course of action before the authority begins the design process for what will likely be a $15.5 million build. Key details include the path the lateral will take between the airport and the village and how different water systems will share portions of the lateral.

Ortega said the lateral would basically pick up at the airport and head east before turning south at NM 108, but there is the matter of avoiding wetlands and finding landowners to provide easements. Ortega said the authority prefers to build on privately owned land so it’s not at the mercy of any governmental road work, and that it aims to find land without existing structures.

Autrey said he knew of numerous landowners who would be more than happy to work with the authority, and offered to have preliminary discussions. While Ortega said he appreciated the willingness to help, he felt it was best to involve the authority from the start so nobody mistakenly thinks they were promised something.

Autrey asked about potentially installing fire hydrants on the lateral line. Ortega said the authority is focused only on supplying water, and would want to avoid any obligation for hydrant maintenance or operation.

Regarding wetlands near 108, Jacobs Project Manager Jim Honea said the authority could probably build the pipeline through wetlands if it needed to, but surmised it would be easier to pick a different route and avoid additional permitting.

The community representatives also shared concerns of how their different water systems would share the same pipeline and still maintain some level of autonomy with their customer bases. The city of Clovis is served by EPCOR, while Texico operates its own water system.

While EPCOR still needs to be brought to the table, authority members felt they could create an interim agreement where EPCOR would provide an annual amount of water to Texico in exchange for the additional water customers it could pick up extending its service past the airport. Once the pipeline is connected to the Ute Reservoir, the authority will use that water to supply Texico.

“We can draw a jurisdiction line somewhere” that would let EPCOR add to its customer base, Morris told Autrey. “After that (line), they don’t get to come close to what you do.”

Autrey said the extra access to water could relieve local concerns on water supply and aid in growing the population and tax base.

“It’s a dream we’ve had for 25 years,” Autrey said, “and now we can see the end of it.”

The authority hopes to have a followup study session in the coming weeks.