NM CAP Entity met in special meeting Sept. 22, 2020

By Mary Alice Murphy

The New Mexico Central Arizona Project Entity met telephonically on Sept. 22, 2020 for a special meeting with one item on the agenda.

With no public input, no new business and after approving the agenda and minutes, Executive Director Anthony Gutierrez launched into the item, which was to approve or disapprove the Bureau of Reclamation Project Plan and Budget for NEPA Close-Out Activities.

"The Committee that was appointed by this board [Author's Note: The committee consists of Entity Attorney Pete Domenici Jr, representing the San Francisco Soil and Water Conservation District Howard Hutchinson, and Gutierrez.] had a meeting last week with representatives from Reclamation and the Interstate Stream Commission to discuss activities needed going forward to terminate the NEPA funding agreement," Gutierrez said.

He showed on his screen the summary by quarter of the planned obligations and/or expenditures from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. The first column for the present quarter of July-Sept. 2020, showed a total of the funds expended in July and August and the estimated September expenditures of $32,000. Budgeted for Oct.-Dec. 2020, the total was $40,000 and for the first quarter 2021, $7,000 with no expenditures expected for the second quarter 2021. The total expenditures for closeout activities are $79,000.

About $68,000 will be spent through the end of the fiscal year in 2021 to close out the NEPA evaluation, with another $11,000 to close out the cultural resources compliance component. The remainder of the funds that the ISC sent, as a joint lead, to Reclamation for the NEPA process will be returned to the New Mexico Unit Fund.

Gutierrez said although the first dispute resolution has been agreed upon, "there are still some outstanding disputes we will discuss and come to conclusion on. The NEPA closeout activities include prepare and submit the concluding reports, prepare and submit the administrative file. That's for data and closeout. Plus, the pending Federal Register notice of the termination of the Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS.

He said there were some contract expenditures not included in the previous totals that are already obligated and approved by NMISC, with no additional funds needed. The award amount for the Class 1 and Research Design Contract was $114,130.92, with $90,851.69 expended as of Aug. 31, 2020. The award amount for the programmatic agreement and consultation support was $280,122.40, with $136,500 expended as of the end of August.

Gutierrez said the total amount awarded as $2,834,327, with $2,397,996 expended by the end of August 2020. He also noted that no additional engineering expenditures are anticipated.

"We need to approve the $79,000 budget for the closeout of the NEPA process," Gutierrez said.

Vice Chair Vance Lee, representing Hidalgo County, and serving as chair of the meeting, asked if there would be any ramification of not approving the expenditures.

Gutierrez said without approval the closeout of the NEPA could not proceed. "We did agree last meeting on the process. This is just the expenditure-related portion."

Allen Campbell, representing the Gila Hotsprings Irrigation Association, said that what Gutierrez said was correct. "But it was also mentioned that we indicated that approval was under duress to keep it from being considered that we initiated this termination. This approval is necessary but not pleasing."

Gutierrez said a statement from the New Mexico CAP Entity will be discussed at the next regular meeting. "That statement will be included in the closeout documents. There will also be an attachment to the EIS."

Lee asked if that would include the entity's concern about the "Dear Reader" letter that was discussed at the previous meeting, which can we read at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/59931-nm-cap-entity-spends-good-part-of-meeting-discussing-dispute-resolution-090120 .

Gutierrez said it would be included.

Hutchinson moved and Campbell seconded the motion, which approved the budgeted expenditures for the closeout.

During the member roundtable, Campbell said one of the things he wanted to say, "trying not to replow a lot of ground, was how adamant I was about the inconsistency of the ISC board. I'm thinking that one of the members is not very cognizant of the CUFA (Consumptive Use and Forbearance Agreement of the Arizona Water Settlements Act. I think there were mistakes made. I just want not to destroy our right to get this water (14,000 acre feet from the San Francisco and Gila river basins, as allocated under the AWSA). We need to maintain our posture."

Lee said he thought that was territory that would be covered in the discussion of amendments to the JPA.

The next regular meeting will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, at the Grant County Administration Center.