Ute pipeline project receives $20 million

The New Mexico Water Trust Board has awarded $20 million to the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority.

According to a news release from ENMWUA Executive Director Orlando Ortega, the money is for use in the next phase of pipeline transmission phases.

Ortega wrote the money will also be used for essential components that include the intake pump station, Caprock pump station, and Caprock storage tanks.

“This funding comes in the form of a 90% grant in the amount of $18 million and a 10% loan in the amount of $2 million,” Ortega wrote.

In the release, Ortega noted the project continues to advance at “a very active pace.”

Ortega wrote construction is underway on the “finished water 1 project,” a 15.5-mile transmission pipeline phase beginning just northwest of Cannon Air Force Base and ending at the future water treatment plant.

The water authority is also under construction with the “finished water 3B pipeline project,” which will connect the pipeline to the city of Portales system at the  Lime Street water storage facility. 

Additionally, ENMWUA awarded the “raw water 3 pipeline project” to Harper Brothers Construction on April 25, Ortega wrote. Ortega described raw water 3 as a 21.7 mile transmission pipeline segment that extends north to near the edge of the Caprock.