By Allen Campbell, member of NM CAP Entity, with input from ISC attorney Dominique Work

Progress is being made toward securing additional water from the Gila River for Southwest New Mexico. The Arizona Water Settlement Act (AWSA), is a Federal Statute that offsets an inequity of the 1968 adjudication of New Mexico €™s water rights on the Gila River. Currently, Arizona owns 96% of the Gila River water flow. The AWSA agreed that New Mexico is entitled to a maximum of 14,000 acre feet of additional water in the four county region of southwest New Mexico.

The Consumptive Use and Forbearance Agreement (CUFA) became the mechanism to secure this water in a manner acceptable to all parties. The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) was the New Mexico entity that negotiated with Arizona. The third party of CUFA was to be the NM Unit Entity. A JPA of local governments only within the borders of Catron, Grant, Luna and Hildalgo Counties was created to become the NM CAP Entity and oversee all operations of the NM Unit. The first meeting was held on August 10, 2015

At this time, negotiations are going on between the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and the NM CAP Entity, for the additional terms that will change Exhibit 2.48 (from CUFA) into the agreement between the NM CAP Entity and the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary). In simple language, “terms” are to define the autonomy and requirements between the NM CAP Entity and the Secretary. The hard date to submit additional terms is October 2015. This short fuse has been an enormous burden on the parties.

The whole purpose of forming the NM CAP Entity is to move the responsibility of implementing the NM Unit to local governments within the boundaries of the four counties. These local governments are then charged with the responsibility of either;
Building the NM Unit with the $66 million from federal funds and up to $34 million from CAP operational funds (due to economic conditions it probably will be less).
Or use the federal funds only to effect water management and conservation within the 4 county area.

Constructing the NM Unit entails;
a. Construction and Construction Funding Contracts;
b. Water Service Contracts
c. Water Delivery Contracts; and
d. Operation and maintenance.

All these activities must meet the minimum requirements of the Bureau of Reclamation and are subject to various environmental compliances.

Currently, the Parties of the NM CAP Entity are organizing and establishing an Entity to represent about 70,000 people in southwest New Mexico. Without this Entity, no money can flow to New Mexico except through the ISC. The 4 counties will not have sole control or management of these funds, because the NM CAP Entity will not exist without the NM Unit.

There can be no decisions on projects by the NM CAP Entity, until the Interior Secretary approves the NM Unit Additional Terms. After approval of the additional terms, there will be a required NEPA study of any proposed project. A 30% engineered project must be submitted by the NM CAP Entity by November of 2015 to BOR and ISC for the NEPA study. The expected time line is 6 years.

The $66 million dollars has already been allocated to the NM Unit or non-unit proposals in an interest bearing account. The operation of the NM CAP Entity will be partially or completely covered by interest income. Each year, for the next ten years, an equal portion of the $66 million will be transferred to the ISC. At that point there is no further AWSA money available.

The NM CAP Entity, once formed, will be eternal, and it will need an income to remain solvent. It is necessary that an item in the Supplemental Terms be included in the NM Unit agreement that allows the entity to generate funds using AWSA Water in accordance with law.