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- Reclamation ensures stable water supply for Eastern New Mexico with $27 million funding award for rural water system
News Release Archive
Reclamation ensures stable water supply for Eastern New Mexico with $27 million funding award for rural water system
Media Contact:
Mary Carlson, (505)462-3576, mcarlson@usbr.gov
For Release: September 16, 2020
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Bureau of Reclamation is providing $27 million over the next five years to the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority to continue work on a water system that will provide clean, reliable water for approximately 70,000 Eastern New Mexico residents. Reclamation will provide $14.75 million in fiscal year 2020. The remaining amount will be provided over the following four years as funds are available.
“We’re pleased to continue to partner with the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority to make clean, reliable water a reality for these communities that are struggling with declining water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer,” said Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman. “This investment will allow construction of important water treatment and delivery infrastructure that will serve local communities for generations to come.”
The Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System will deliver water from Ute Reservoir to the communities of Clovis, Portales, Texico and Elida, as well as Roosevelt County and Cannon Air Force Base. This $27 million will help fund the next phase of the project that will include finished water pipeline segments connecting the City of Clovis to the finished water tanks in the City of Portales and the segment of pipeline connecting the communities to the location where a water treatment plant will be built in the future to treat the raw water coming from Ute Reservoir. Currently, the Ogallala Aquifer is the only water source for communities in Roosevelt and Curry counties. The aquifer has continued to decline, and it now only holds enough water to meet area needs for about 10 years.
The Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System will bring a secondary water supply and will include 120 miles of pipe, two raw water pump stations, the Ute Reservoir Intake Facility, a smaller water pump station and a water treatment plant. Today’s funding announcement is in addition to nearly $24 million provided by Reclamation since 2013 for earlier phases of the project—including the water intake structure at Ute Reservoir and a segment of finished water pipeline connecting to the finished water tanks in the City of Clovis and CAFB. Construction of the first phase of the project was completed in 2015.
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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.
