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Approving Intera Water Budget Model Contract Extension
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The Water Authority has developed a water budget model for simulation and planning of various supply and demand scenarios, in support of future water planning. This contract extension is for the development and evaluation of alternatives for updating the 2007 adopted Water Resources Management Strategy (Strategy). One of the primary reasons for the water budget model was to utilize and update specific water usage and other information to identify future water needs and allow for evaluating alternatives and to manage the Water Authority's water resources.
A presentation was made to the Customer Advisory Committee (CAC) at the January 2015 meeting to discuss formulation and evaluation of alternatives and the proposed schedule for updating the Strategy. At the presentation, the CAC asked a number of questions related to water supply and demand scenarios including the potential effects from climate variability. These issues will be addressed working closely with the CAC and ultimately all of the alternatives will be presented at public meeting(s) in the fall/winter 2015. We are currently scheduled to meet with the CAC in May, June, July, August and September 2015 and more meetings may be necessary to continue the Strategy work.
The previous contract extension allowed for the Water Authority working with Intera to address and update the model based on feedback from the Scientific Task Force. That work is continuing and we are coordinating to schedule a meeting with the group to finalize the effort and develop a technical memorandum summarizing the process. As a reminder, the Task Force consisted of representatives from the Corps of Engineers, the US Bureau of Reclamation, the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and active and retired academic experts from the University of New Mexico.
The Task Force included technical experts from a variety of fields including climate change, systems modeling, surface-water modeling, ground water modeling, habitat management, river management and economics as shown on the following page.
Members of the Task Force include:
· Lori Robertson, US Fish and Wildlife
· Marc Sidlow, US Army Corps of Engineers
· Dennis Garcia, US Army Corps of Engineers
· Lee Brown, H2O Economics (retired UNM)
· Bruce Thomson, University of New Mexico
· Julie Coonrod, University of New Mexico
· Carolyn Donnelly, Bureau of Reclamation
· Nabil Shafike, NM Interstate Stream Commission
· David Gutzler, University of New Mexico
Some of the members of the Task Force will continue to provide support to the Water Authority during the development and evaluation of alternatives. The Task Force has provided very good feedback and having members stay involved will be invaluable to the Water Authority and the public as the updated Strategy is finalized for adoption by the Water Authority Board.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The funding to support this contract extension, in the amount of $295,000, is appropriated for FY 2015 in the Water Resources Management budget.