Water meeting slated for today in Portales

The Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority will meet at 2 p.m. today at The Roosevelt restaurant for their monthly meeting.

Portales Mayor Orlando Ortega praised the efforts of the authority — which includes 12 entities including Clovis and Portales — by stating that combined efforts on the Ute Water Project are gathering steam.

“We’re really moving fast on this project now,” Ortega said. “This thing has been over 40 years in the making and it has had its ups and downs, and now everything is coming together real good.”

The meeting will be the first with all 12 entities implemented as one authority.

“It’s kind of a special ceremonial meeting of sorts because we believe we have everyone working together in unity and have created a joint powers agreement that everyone is pleased with,” Ortega said.

Representatives from all entities will be present, Ortega added, and the authority will also discuss the possibilities of hiring a project manager to spearhead the planning stages of the project.

The authority meets every third Wednesday of each month at different locations from Tucumcari to Portales.