Q&A: Commission candidates weigh in on water assurance plan

Editor’s note: City commissioners late last year approved a master water assurance plan. We asked 2018 commission candidates:

• What do you like about the plan, if anything?

• What are your primary concerns about the plan, if any?

Here are their responses via email, published exactly as they were received:

District 1

Juan Garza

“My answer to your first question, I like the plan because we or the next elected officials will have a plan in place that can be worked on to secure water for the next forty years, something we need for quality of life and economic development. Also the plan is flexible.

“Concerns about the plan? like anything else, funding.”

District 2

Gary Elliott

Did not respond.

District 3 (2-year term)

Helen Casaus

“I like that the public will be involved and bring ideas to the table about our water situation.

“I am all for water conservation, we need to utilize the effluent water reuse plan.

“Funding should continue for the Ute water pipeline.

“I do not like the idea of water banking.”

District 3 (4-year term)

David Bryant

“What I like about the plan, is it addresses things we have allready started, like the Ute pipeline, and City wastewater reuse project.

“However we have planned, planned, planned, got data, data and more data, researched, researched, and done more research, but yet we haven’t finished the water projects we have allready started, now we want to add more?

“What this water plan can possibly means is higher gross receipt taxes higher property taxes, higher sewer and garbage rates, and most likely current water rates.

“My question is what is our City water provider Epcor doing, what is ENMWUA doing? What is the County doing? We need all players to step up and fit the bill to finish projects started first and foremost.”

Jose Griego

Did not respond

Fidel Madrid

“What I like about the plan is we have a plan, the city needs to finish the affluent water line to water all parks and schools to conserve our ground water for the city of Clovis.

“We also need look at all playa lakes around Clovis to harvest water for the affluent water.

“I also think we need to bank water but the cost to do that is very expensive for the City to do that at this time, the Ute pipe needs to be finished as soon as possible so the east side of the State has water then we can talk about banking water.

“Epcor Water Company is the one that owns the water company they are responsible to assure that we have water for the City.”

District 4

Justin Hummer

“After careful review of the Master Water Assurance Plan and speaking with residents I feel the City of Clovis is on the right path to secure water for our future generations. We are already moving in the right direction to secure future water requirements with 2 of the 5 Action Plans actively in progress and funded.

“Mrs. Ladona Clayton and her team have taken a multi prong approach to resolve the water concerns for generations to come. Each of the action plans address the availability of water 5 years, 20 years, and even 80-100 years from now.

“This plan is a huge step in the right direction as Clovis will be pioneering techniques that will likely set new state recommendations and standards.

“I feel that we also need to protect the water resources we have by implementing a more conservative water use standard; lawn watering schedules and xeriscaping for starters.

“I’m excited to see how this plan comes together as the committee explores the available financial aid, bonds, and other resources to save the Clovis taxpayers.

“My concerns with the plan are the undetermined costs at this point, where will EPCOR and ENMWUA help with this, and would the city be looking to increase taxes again. The EPCOR contract is set to expire January of 2021 so it is vital that they assist in funding a portion of the action plans.

“ENMWUA has been granted the authority by the State of New Mexico to provide water ‘by any available means’ to those within its boundaries, which leads me to believe this is less of the city’s problem and more ENMWUA’s problem.

“The millions of dollars that we are looking to invest now may seem great but we must remain proactive in our pursuit before the cost is beyond our reach.”

Rube Render

“Clovis uses about ten million gallons of water per day (MGD). The water company is prepared to continue furnishing this amount as well as providing sufficient reserves for unexpected events. The contract between Clovis and the water company states, ‘“During the life of this franchise, the Company shall furnish the inhabitants of the City of Clovis, New Mexico, with water service in sufficient quantities to meet their requirements, at such rates and in accordance with such conditions of service as may be established by the Company from time to time with the approval of the Public Utility Commission of the State of New Mexico or its successors in responsibility.”’

“Southwest Cheese has 1.6 MGD available to the water treatment plant, but the plant lacks the necessary filtration system to process it. The wastewater plant has an additional 2.6 MGD that would be available if we had an effluent re-use treatment system in place. This total of 4.2 MGD represents an increase of more than 40% already available water if processed satisfactorily. The effluent water reuse plan is a plus.

“The plan will purchase no tangible asset; rather the plan would purchase a promise to not pump water at a cost of about $40M. Not pumping water today is no guarantee that there will be water in the well fifteen years from now. If there is water available at that time, the city will have to purchase wet water from the owners. This equates to ‘“buying’” the water twice.

“Ute Pipeline advocates have argued in Washington that even if all water users in Curry County ceased pumping, it would not be sufficient to guarantee water in the future, thus making the pipeline the only logical alternative.

“There is no such thing as ‘waste water’. There is only inadequately treated water.”