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Water, power, gas dominate EPCOG meeting

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Water conservation, Tres Amigas and gas prices dominated the Eastern Plains Council of Governments meeting Wednesday morning at the EPCOG office in Clovis.

Economic and Community Development Planner Raymond Mondragon gave a report from well water testing that was done by New Mexico Tech in conjunction with a U.S. Geological Survey team during July. Almost 70 wells were tested, he said, and five were found with issues.

The wells, Floyd Representative Toni Whitecotton said, were in Floyd and contained high amounts of fluoride and arsenic.

Whitecotton said the well water is now “almost 100 percent pure.”

Water quality in Curry County, Mondragon said, was good, but there were some concerns in Roosevelt County regarding the amount of water it has left in the aquifer beneath.

“When you go further south, it’s drying up,” he said.

To the west in Guadalupe County, Mondragon said, there is more water and the area remains in good standing with its water quality.

Mondragon said the testing was done along the Paleo Channel and Ogallala Aquifer, and said USGS would try to come back in two years to continue well water testing. Mondragon also asked the USGS team to map out current water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer. The last time water levels were mapped out, he said, was in 2007.

Continuing his report, Mondragon noted that he sent a letter to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas regarding higher gas prices in rural New Mexico communities than in Texas, and inquired about any gas price gouging investigations.

Mondragon said he was a guest speaker at a chamber of commerce luncheon in Clayton when the issue came up from former Commissioner George Gonzales, who pointed out the issue.

According to Mondragon, gas prices in Amarillo were $2.29 a gallon when gas was $2.85 a gallon in Clayton.

“The concern that Mr. Gonzales conveyed to me was that it is price gouging, and wanted to know if the New Mexico Attorney General’s office was investigating any gas price inconsistencies,” Mondragon read aloud from his letter.

“Even in the town of Logan there’s two stations down there, and they’re (15 cents) a gallon difference and they’re in the same town,” said Wesley Shafer, treasurer for EPCOG.

“In Santa Rosa, it’s (40 cents) higher than in Albuquerque,” said Ernest Tapia, representative from Guadalupe County. “It’s always been that.”

Mondragon requested that two meetings be set up in Clayton and Clovis with the attorney general’s office regarding the issue, and said he expects to hear something soon.

Some work from Tres Amigas — which recently lost a key player when the eastern power grid (Southwestern Public Service) dropped out of the deal, saying Tres Amigas was taking too long — can be expected now that they have purchased eight miles of easements in Curry County, Commissioner Tim Ashley pointed out.

“We did have a meeting with David Stidham out of Amarillo who has been reporting to us on the Tres Amigas project,” Mondragon replied. “They are proceeding. I would say they’re proceeding very slowly; at first they have to raise $515 million.”

Shafer added that they are “fixing to do another wind farm at Grady,” consisting of 235 to 240 wind turbines that can produce 50 megawatts of power.

“It’s still transmission for Tres Amigas,” Shafer said. “I think once we see that, they’ll start on that wind farm in October, November. Gotta get it hot so we can get our money.”

Tapia asked Shafer if they had set up the agreement to include start and finish deadlines, saying that if they hadn’t, Tres Amigas doesn’t have to pay Grady anything for up to possibly 10 years.

“We’re doing a solar farm, and we’re planning to do it next year, and if they don’t finish it next year, (the deal) is off the table,” Tapia said. “If you don’t do that, once you give them a (tax credit) discount, they can (finish the project and pay you) whenever they want. … Some have started up and they don’t go into production for 10 years.”

Shafer said the wind farm would be completed by no later than 2017, and that it would be done in three phases.

Also, the board approved financials for the 2014-2015 fiscal year and Executive Director Sandy Chancey’s out-of-state travel to attend a National Association of Development Organizations conference in New Orleans in October.