The Bernalillo County Commission is expected to consider an application for much-needed Water Trust board funding for Carnuel in a June 25 meeting.
Commissioner Eric Olivas wants to secure funding to provide houses in Carnuel with drinking water and improve wastewater removal systems. Olivas, who is also the chair for the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, said the East Mountains are in a water crisis, and that crisis has been going on for a long time. He says wells are going dry and the existing depleted wells are getting “very low-quality water in most cases.” With state funding comes state water, which Olivas says is more reliable and held to a higher standard of safety and purity.
Built on bedrock
“Carnuel has several problems. It is a community that’s built on granite bedrock. So the water table there is hit or miss to begin with and the soil is essentially nonexistent,” Olivas said. “Most of the households out there are on septic. Put two and two together, there’s not really anywhere for those septic systems to drain other than the limited shallow aquifer pockets and then into the Torrance Creek, both of which are a big problem.”
Olivas said that these issues cause high nitrate levels in drinking water and other environmental issues associated with inefficient wastewater removal and if the request is approved, the funding will actually save the county money.
“Literally, we’re doing things like ripping up the road twice because we are doing [drinking] water and wastewater separately,” Olivas said. “It’s not very efficient, and more expensive, but when you’re doing it with small chunks of money, that’s all you can do.”
According to Olivas, the state-level Water Trust Board provides funding for water projects across the state through a competitive budgetary appropriations process. The board puts forth a listing — or recommendation — of projects they approve for funding by the Legislature. These projects range from small construction projects like repairing water lines under city streets to large projects like building new reservoirs.
Olivas is sponsoring an item before the commission to set aside $2.5 million from the county’s general surplus fund. Olivas said the Water Trust board typically requires a 10% to 20% local match for funding. With a state funding match, the plan will leverage between $12 million and $20 million for water improvement projects in Carnuel.
The funding is not guaranteed, but Olivas feels strongly that the local investment is worth what Carnuel will receive from the state payout.
“It is a competitive application. So the $2.5 million will not be spent unless we are successful in getting the state funds,” he said. “Ultimately, I think it’s a really good return on an investment for taxpayers and for that community. The county has roughly half a billion dollars in reserves, which greatly exceeds what is required by the state. And so, this would put a very small percentage of that work in our community.”
Read more on Olivas’ push for a study of the Carnuel groundwater.