Letter to the editor - July 23

Smarter, cheaper solutions to water problem

Several weeks ago, I wrote a letter questioning the lack of common sense associated with the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority’s quest to build a pipeline to Ute Lake.

It pointed out that ENMWUA was planning to spend a minimum of $800 million to build the pipeline to a lake that could be dry in two years.

It provided as an example the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority that supplies water to Amarillo and Lubbock. Although CRMWA historically relied on water from Lake Meredith, it realized years ago that because of the historical drought in the last few decades it could not count on Lake Meredith supplying the needed water. As a result CRMWA spent less than $300 million to purchase groundwater that will supply Amarillo and Lubbock with water for over 100 years.

Although the citizens of Logan and Quay County have long opposed the pipeline, I think many of us assumed that ENMWUA and its board were operating in good faith in pursing the project. I no longer believe that.

We now have proof that ENMWUA and the city of Clovis have known for years that the most cost effective way to solve Clovis, Portales and Texico’s water problems is by purchasing ground water. Yet for some reason they continue to pursue a pipeline to Ute Lake.

At some point prior to 2019 the city of Clovis identified 10,290 acres of land northwest of the city that sits atop a paleo channel full of groundwater. The state engineer allows pumping of 3 acre feet per acre per year, which means that 30,870 acre feet of water could potentially be pumped from this area every year. Clovis, Portales and Texico use less than 12,000 acre feet of water per year.

Even if only 15,000 acre feet of water could be pumped from the paleo channel annually that would be more than enough to address their water needs.

The city of Clovis hired Wright Water Engineers of Denver to estimate how much it would cost to buy all the water rights below the 10,290 acres. Wright estimated that it would cost $23.435 million in 2019 and stated “The City of Clovis should acquire all water rights, including both irrigated and potentially irrigated lands, in the paleo channel west of Clovis and end irrigation.”

Instead, since that report, ENMWUA has done nothing to secure those water rights. In 2022 and 2023, ENMWUA secured over $270 million in local, state and federal funds to build the pipeline. It could have used a small fraction of that money, $25 million, to purchase the paleo water rights, which is a sustainable water source. Yet ENMWUA continues to blindly pursue this pipeline project to Ute Lake.

The Wright report can be found at utepipeline.com or residents from Clovis, Portales and Texico can get a copy by contacting your city commission members who have recently been provided copies.

The Wright report raises several questions. If ENMWUA could solve Roosevelt and Curry counties water problem for a fraction of the cost of a pipeline why wouldn’t it? Are the members of the ENMWUA board that are members of the Clovis, Portales and Texico city commissions providing the full story to their communities? At what point will the Clovis, Portales and Texico city commissions take the bull by the horns and get to the bottom of what is going on at ENMWUA? At what point will the citizens of Clovis, Portales and Texico get fed up and make it clear to their elected commissioners that they want a solution to their water problems not a billion dollar pipeline to a lake that is not a sustainable water source?

Hopefully we will get answers to all those questions in the near future.

Warren Frost

Logan