Study session held on lateral pipeline

CLOVIS — Between six to nine months of project design, a similar timeframe to acquire easements and 12 to 14 months of construction, plenty of time still separates the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority from the Texico lateral it envisions as part of its water delivery system.

It’s just as well, since an agreement with EPCOR Water that’s a linchpin to the lateral is only at its starting point as well. But those who attended a Wednesday study session at the ENMWUA office saw no reason they couldn’t find common ground.

A portion of the authority held a Oct. 20 study session for initial discussion of the Texico lateral, a piece of the interim groundwater project that would connect Clovis, Portales, Cannon Air Force Base, Texico and Elida for municipal water delivery.

The city of Clovis, thanks to a $2 million award in state economic development dollars, is extending its water system to the Clovis Regional Airport, about halfway between Clovis and Texico along N.M. 523. The authority aims to use that extension, then continue its own build the rest of the way to Texico.

“A big advantage of this,” Authority Chair Mike Morris said, “is it shortens the Texico lateral and makes the option look a lot better from the authority’s perspective.”

Max Carter, the authority’s Texico representative, said the village council requested the lateral travel east until it reaches N.M. 108, then head south to Texico on 108’s west side. The authority aims to build through private land adjacent to the roads to avoid issues with any future road construction by the state.

The Wednesday study session, attended by 10 people, included EPCOR, which operates Clovis’ water system. Authority members are seeking a deal where EPCOR would provide Texico with an interim allotment of bulk water in exchange for the opportunity it would receive to acquire new customers east of the airport. The authority proposed a jurisdiction line a half-mile west of 108 to keep EPCOR and Texico water systems separate.

Daniel Bailet, vice president of business development for EPCOR, said the “high-level issue is this is all good news,” but plenty of low-level issues remained.

“There are a lot of complexities,” Bailet said. “I think a small working group of us can get together and do that. I don’t see it happening in this meeting.”

Authority members agreed, and set up an initial call for Wednesday. Participating on EPCOR’s behalf will be Bailet, Operations Supervisor Mark Huerta and Manager Tom Torres. The authority will be represented by Morris, administrator Orlando Ortega and engineer Jim Honea.

Discussion points from Bailet included an authority request for a percentage of connection fees and utility payments for those new customers. Ortega said the authority could alternatively make a deal with operation and maintenance costs.

Bailet said he’d want EPCOR to have operation and maintenance responsibilities west of the jurisdiction line, even if the company was only likely to pick up a handful of residential properties as new customers. He also said any deal would require flexibility, since EPCOR requires Public Regulation Commission approval.

Morris said at the conclusion of the session compromises were needed, but nothing Bailet discussed felt like a dealbreaker.

The authority aims to eventually connect the interim system to its main water source, the Ute Reservoir in Quay County, at which point it would no longer seek water from EPCOR to satisfy Texico’s needs. Ortega said that’s probably around 15 years away.