By Jim Owen

Hanover, which continues to receive emergency water supplies from Bayard, got some good news Tuesday.

The New Mexico Finance Authority's Colonias Infrastructure Board, meeting in Cloudcroft, agreed to allow the Hanover Domestic Water Consumer Association to use a previously awarded grant to either rehabilitate the community's wells or drill a new well.

The board's $157,000 appropriation originally was intended for water-distribution lines, according to Priscilla Lucero of the Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments. She is assisting Hanover in applying for funding from various sources.

In addition to the grant money, the association is to receive a $100,000 capital outlay from the state Legislature. A hydrology study is under way to determine whether a new well is needed, or if one of the current wells can be drilled deeper to reach more water.

Hanover has experienced repeated water crises in recent years, due to its inadequate wells. While some residents have their own wells, more than 100 homes depend on the water association. One of the two community wells is no longer functioning, and the other one produces an insufficient amount of water.

In August 2013, the Bayard City Council agreed to pump as much as 200,000 gallons per month to Hanover for a monthly fee of about $3,000. Because of a shortage of revenue, the water association fell behind on its payments. By the end of May, Hanover owed Bayard more than $20,000.

The New Mexico Board of Finance provided the money to pay the debt. To help prevent Hanover from falling into arrears again, Bayard officials reached an agreement with the Rural Community Assistance Corp. to establish a bulk rate of about $1,300 per month for the emergency water.

Hanover's contract with Bayard is on a month-to-month basis. Councilors, during their regular meeting last week, agreed to continue providing the emergency supplies at the reduced rate. They stipulated, however, that the water association must charge its customers high-enough rates to pay the monthly fee.

In 2004, both of the community's wells failed. Residents had to haul water from trucks that delivered emergency supplies, until one of the wells was restored to temporarily end the crisis. The other well (which needed a new pump, wiring and plumbing) was not rehabilitated until 2009.

The two wells produced a total of 50 gallons per minute, which met the needs of the association's customers in Hanover and Vanadium. The organization, anticipating that one of the wells could fail, obtained about $1.6 million in grants from the state and federal governments to install a four-mile water line and build three pumping stations to enable Bayard to pump water uphill to Hanover in an emergency.

The project was completed in the summer of 2011, about two years before the pumping became necessary.