Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Portales City Manager Sarah Austin speaks to the council Tuesday about an engineering company that would prepare an overall water system study for Portales. The study will tell the council what needs to be done in order to better the overall water situation.
Amid recent water restrictions in Portales, the city council on Tuesday voted to utilize engineering services that would prepare an overall water system study.
City Manager Sarah Austin told the council that Wilson and Company, one of the engineers the city has on call, would prepare the study. The cost will be just over $153,000 and will come out of the city's wastewater fund.
"I think we need an independent study on this," Councilor Michael Miller said. "I think we need somebody to look at it and see where we're at."
The study will evaluate various aspects, including water supply, storage, distribution, usage, conservation, and offsetting potable water use. This will be the first time the city uses Wilson and Company.
"They have a health and wellness of all our situation with water, which would be something that I think the city needs at this time," Austin said.
The city's Public Works Committee recently elected to have a Community Water Committee to establish an updated version of the Water Drought Contingency Plan and to discuss the water situation.
Once annual services are completed, the water department will evaluate the reports, city officials have said. If the report shows a production of an additional 500 gallons per minute, the city will do a test run and lift the Stage 3 Water Restrictions to a limited Stage 3 by Dec. 1.
The Stage 3 water emergency was declared on June 28.
The restrictions for the water emergency are as follows:
• Outdoor landscape watering: No watering, except for trees, shrubs, and vegetable gardens with shut-off hose and hand-held container.
• Car washing at residence is prohibited.
• Washing down pavement, sidewalks, etc. is prohibited.
• Residential spas, and swimming pools: Filling and refilling is prohibited.
• Filling and refilling of ornamental fountains is prohibited.
Wilson and Company gave the city a timeline on how long the study would take, estimating a completion date in April. The city will then go over the company's recommendations on how to better the overall water situation for Portales.
