Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
About $9.3 million destined for the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Project has been “paused” along with $70 million destined for other projects across the country in funds from the federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act.
The Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Project is another name for the Ute Pipeline Project. The pause came in an executive order from President Donald Trump.
But ENMWUA Board Chair Mike Morris said the action needs to be viewed in perspective and that it does not suggest project funding is in danger.
“The $9.3 million is our share of the most recent $82 million planned for distribution nationwide,” Morris said.
“We have a $360 million budget so that $9.3 million doesn’t faze us. We anticipate appropriations for our project outside the Insfrastructure and Jobs Act.”
Morris told The News in a text message, “The $9.3 million could be caught up in the pause, but that says nothing about the commitment on the part of the federal government to see the project through to completion.
“We have a federal authorization, a completion agreement, and most recently the memo from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which affirmed and justified the reverse osmosis, and membrane filtration process for treating (the water from Ute Reservoir). All speaks to the committed partnership and commitment to finishing the project.”
About half of the project’s estimated $1 billion price tag has already been funded, Morris and other officials have said. The federal government has pledged to provide 75% of the money needed to build the 130-mile pipeline from Ute lake in Quay County; the rest comes from state and local funds.
“My take is that President Trump’s (executive order) is simply part of the transition to his administration,” Morris said. “It makes sense that he would want to get his people in place and have a handle on things.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said $5 million for a water project on the Jicarilla Apache nation in northern New Mexico was also paused in Trump’s executive action.
