Water reuse project 'on track and doing well'

The second of four phases in Clovis’ effluent reuse pipeline project is expected to finish by the end of this year, as announced during the city’s Water Policy Advisory Committee meeting Tuesday.

City Manager Larry Fry said the current phase of the water project, anticipated to finish Dec. 12, is “on track and doing well.” Most of the work, according to Fry, has been expanding the reuse water to Hillcrest Park and the area around 14th and Sycamore streets.

The project’s construction began more than three years ago. The idea is to conserve the city’s water supply by using treated wastewater for irrigation at city parks, schools and sporting fields.

The project’s four intended phases, Public Works Director Clint Bunch said, include:

• To Rierson Park and the city landfill.

• North, to Yucca Middle School and Hillcrest Park.

• West, to cover Marshall Middle School and Greene Acres Park.

• Further west to Bob Spencer Park, with a storage tank.

Committee Chairman Chris Bryant said upon completion, the city would save about 2 million gallons of water per day. The system as designed, Bunch said, can supply 4 million gallons per day.

In other business:

• Bryant announced the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority agreed to participate in a New Mexico Tech mapping project, along with the city of Clovis and Curry County. The project includes utilizing U.S. geological surveys and producing a series of maps of Curry and Roosevelt counties to project the use of ground water resources under different scenarios.

Bryant said the project is expected to last 12 months, with the anticipated completion date of Aug. 15, 2017. He said the cost is about $23,000 per entity.

• Bryant announced the city approved to hire Peter Nichols, partner of the Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti law firm, to do a legal blueprint of water conservation ideas and possible revenue streams for the city’s conservation efforts.

Nichols practices water law, water quality law, environmental law, and land and water conservation law. He also has expertise in the federal Clean Water Act and various water rights to meet municipal needs.

Bryant said the city also hopes to partner with Cannon Air Force Base for conservation projects.

• The committee heard an update from Mark Huerta, a representative from EPCOR. He said there was a “very mild pumping season” throughout summer.

Huerta said EPCOR pumped an average of six million gallons of water per day in August, which is 53 percent of the overall pumping capacity. September shows about 4.2 million gallons of water pumped per day, which is 37 percent of the pumping capacity.

Huerta said he and other EPCOR representatives will meet Tuesday with city officials to discuss replacement projects in the works.

• Justin Howalt, executive director of ENMWUA, said the Water Trust Board is working on the interim groundwater project, preparing applications to request funding.

He said the funding will be used to bridge the gap between Cannon Air Force Base and Clovis. Construction of the first phase is expected to start early next year.

Howalt said the board recently gave a tour of the intake facility to several state legislators.

“It was a great opportunity to show folks that are not from this area what we are actually doing,” Howalt said, “and they were actually very impressed with how much work we've done and where we're headed with the project.”

Regarding the “slow pace of the federal government,” Howalt said the board is looking at other options to fund their projects, such as P3 public-private partnership initiatives.

Howalt said the project is set up on 75 percent federal funds, 15 percent state funds, 10 percent local funds.

“By using private investment dollars,” Howalt said, “it’s a way we could accelerate that schedule and maybe change those percentages somehow to where ultimately, the ones benefiting from the water itself would be paying for the infrastructure.”

Howalt said results from the board’s research will be produced within the next month or two.

• Commissioner Sandra Taylor-Sawyer pointed out the wastewater treatment plant offers residents compost, a free service she thinks should be utilized more because leftover compost ends up in the city landfill.

“Fall is coming,” she said, “and that compost is good for the grass.”

• Bryant read a letter from Adrian Chavez, president of the newly formed Curry County Water Co-Op.

The co-op discovered approximately 29 area residents south of town living without readily available water, plus an additional 15 with poor water quality.

The co-op plans to raise money through a basketball tournament Sept. 24-25 for a new project, which includes purchasing a water truck to alleviate the burden of residents having to haul buckets of water to their homes.

Huerta said EPCOR is looking into doing a GPS analysis and cost analysis to determine what it would take to provide the residents with water.

• The next meeting is slated for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 11.