February 12, 2021
Gila diversion group asserts primacy as legislation threatens Written by Geoffrey Plant on February 12, 2021
With a proposal in Santa Fe threatening its very existence, the New Mexico Entity of the Central Arizona Project the group that was formed in 2015 to build the ultimately unsuccessful Gila diversion project is having to defend the role it could play when it comes to administering the more than $80 million in the N.M. Unit Fund.
The massive pot of money is destined to be spent, per the 2004 federal Arizona Water Settlements Act, either on a ※New Mexico Unit,” i.e., a surface water diversion, or on ※other water utilization alternatives to meet water supply demands in the Southwest Water Planning Region of New Mexico.”
Legislation would replace Gila diversion group Written by Geoffrey Plant on February 3, 2021
A bill introduced last week in the New Mexico Legislature threatens to sideline the New Mexico Entity of the Central Arizona Project’s role in determining how the remaining money in the N.M. Unit Fund totaling more than $80 million is spent in four southwestern New Mexico counties under the terms of the 2004 federal Arizona Water Settlements Act.
The group’s consulting role is enshrined in state and federal statutes, but House Bill 200, titled “Water Trust Board & N.M. Unit Fund,” seeks to rewrite New Mexico water law and hand the Entity’s responsibilities for vetting water projects over to the New Mexico Water Trust Board.
(Courtesy Image)
Engineering company Telesto Solutions created the final design for the soon-to-be-built permanent Upper Gila Irrigation Association diversion, plans for which have been in the works for nearly a decade. The design, along with a preliminary design for the Fort West Irrigation Association diversion, was revealed during a virtual tour this week.
The Nature Conservancy’s Martha Cooper hosted a virtual tour of two planned permanent diversion structures in the Cliff-Gila valley Wednesday, the uppermost of which the Upper Gila Irrigation Association diversion is ready to be constructed as soon as the Gila Basin Irrigation Commission secures a final piece of funding.