ALBUQUERQUE BERNALILLO COUNTY
WATER UTILITY AUTHORITY
BILL NO. R-25-9
RESOLUTION
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Authorizing the Executive Director to Enter into an Agreement with Santa Fe County to Store Water in Abiquiu Reservoir on Water Authority Easements and Fee Simple Property
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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, 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 P.L. 116-260 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 so long as the contents of the reservoir did not rise to a point above the elevation of 6230.00 NGVD29; and
WHEREAS, P.L. 116-260 required that each user of storage space, regardless of source of water, pay for any increase in costs attributable to storage of that user’s water; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to NMSA 1978 § 72-1-10, the Department of the Army and the Water Authority entered into a new agreement for storage space within Abiquiu Reservoir that was signed June 26, 2024, which allows for storage by the Water Authority of San Juan-Chama project water or native Rio Grande system water in Abiquiu Reservoir up to an elevation of 6230.00 MGCD29, and use of such storage by the Water Authority (known as the “Water Authority’s contracted storage space”); and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority has acquired easements and fee simple property up to elevation 6230.00 NGVD29 in Abiquiu Reservoir.
WHEREAS, Santa Fe County will preferentially use the USACE/Contractors’ pool for storage of water, but may desire additional storage space from the Water Authority; now
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE WATER AUTHORITY:
The Executive Director is authorized to enter a Water Storage Agreement with Santa Fe County that permits the County to store water within the Water Authority’s property at Abiquiu Reservoir in exchange for reasonable consideration by the Santa Fe County.