ALBUQUERQUE BERNALILLO COUNTY
WATER UTILITY AUTHORITY
BILL NO. R-23-23
RESOLUTION
t
Authorizing the Executive Director to Enter into an Agreement with the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Plaintiffs to Suballot Storage Space in Abiquiu Reservoir
b
WHEREAS, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Army to enter into agreements with entities for storage of 200,000 acre-feet of San Juan-Chama water in Abiquiu Reservoir in Public Law 97-140; and
WHEREAS, the Secretary of Interior was authorized to release San Juan-Chama water to contracting entities for such storage; and
WHEREAS, P.L. 97-140 specified that the storage of San Juan-Chama water in Abiquiu Reservoir shall not interfere with the authorized purposes of the project and shall include a requirement that each user of storage space shall pay any increase in operation and maintenance costs attributable to the storage of that user’s water; and
WHEREAS, in Public Law 100-522 Congress further authorized the Secretary of the Army to store 200,000 acre-feet of Rio Grande system water in lieu of San Juan-Chama water to the extent that contracting entities no longer require the storage; and
WHEREAS, in P.L. 116-260 Congress amended P.L. 97-140 and P.L. 100-522 to eliminate the 200,000 acre-feet volume cap from combined sources in favor of allowing for the concurrent storage of San Juan-Chama and native Rio Grande system water in Abiquiu Reservoir up to elevation 6230.00 NGVD29; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to NMSA 1978 § 72-1-10, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (“Water Authority”) is the legal successor to the City of Albuquerque under Contract No. DACW47-86-C-0009 dated March 20, 1986 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for water storage space in Abiquiu Reservoir (the “Contract”); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Contract, the Water Authority has the right to store up to 170,900 acre-feet of San Juan-Chama Project Water, presently has storage space within this volume cap available for suballotment, and has the ability to suballot storage space subject to the terms of the Contract; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority has acquired the necessary real property ownership to facilitate storage in Abiquiu Reservoir including easements and fee simple property up to elevation 6220.00 NGVD29, and is in the process of completing acquisition of property rights up to elevation 6230.00 NGVD29; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) is not a party to this Agreement and incurs no obligation under it and has no discretionary authority other than that specified in the Contract; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority and Plaintiffs negotiated a settlement on claims related to the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow litigation (99 CV 1320/JP/RHS (DNM)); and
WHEREAS, the Settlement Agreement provides for the Water Authority to suballot at no charge up to 30,000 acre-feet of storage space in Abiquiu Reservoir for use as an Environmental Pool for the storage of native Rio Grande and/or San Juan-Chama water acquired by Plaintiffs (“Conservation Water”) through lease, purchase, or donation; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority has and continues to provide storage space in Abiquiu Reservoir for Environmental Purposes under an existing suballotment with the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Supplemental Water Program; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority began full diversions in June 2012 and the Parties have agreed that storage space is available at Abiquiu Reservoir; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Environmental Pool shall be to benefit the Rio Grande, Bosque habitat, and species protected under the Endangered Species Act in a manner consistent with the goals of the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority and the Plaintiffs entered into that Agreement Between the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Plaintiffs and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority to Suballot Storage Space in Abiquiu Reservoir, dated August 16, 2013 (“Original Agreement”); and
WHEREAS, the Original Agreement provided for the term of the original suballotment to be for ten years, subject to renewal at Plaintiffs’ discretion and Corps’ approval; and
WHEREAS; Plaintiffs wish to replace the Original Agreement with this Agreement in order to extend the availability of the Environmental Pool for an additional ten years; and
WHEREAS, Plaintiffs are separately working with the Bureau of Reclamation on a water storage agreement that is anticipated to replace this storage agreement at some point in the future, and the Parties anticipate termination of this agreement upon its completion potentially in advance of the termination date of this agreement; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority and the Plaintiffs wish to enter into this Agreement to allow Plaintiffs a suballotment of a portion of the Water Authority’s storage space, subject to Corps approval; now
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE WATER AUTHORITY:
The Executive Director requests the ability to confer with the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Plaintiffs to enter into an agreement as necessary to facilitate continued use of the environmental pool; and
HEREBY AUTHORIZES:
The Executive Director to act on behalf of the Water Authority to sign an agreement with the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Plaintiffs whereby the Water Authority will suballot up to 30,000 acre-feet of storage space in Abiquiu reservoir for environmental use.