A Santa Fe regional water-supply project hasn't received even a thin dime from the federal government's stimulus cash funneled through the state. The reason? It's too shovel-ready.

Although officials with the Buckman Direct Diversion project asked for money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Gov. Bill Richardson announced Wednesday that the Santa Fe work isn't on a list of water infrastructure projects that will get a share of nearly $28 million to be doled out across the state.

Buckman project manager Rick Carpenter said he learned about two weeks ago that the massive Rio Grande diversion was no longer on the list.

"It looked good early on, and we really did think we were going to share in some of that," said Carpenter. "But we found out sort of informally that there were some constraints that applied to the (Buckman) project that rendered it not viable for this type of money."

Although federal officials have repeatedly stressed that money should go to capital projects that are "shovel ready," Carpenter said the $215 million Buckman project was too far along.

"We broke ground in September and, as it was explained to me, we were a month too early," he said. "If we had broken ground in October, we would have been considered 'shovel ready,' but anything older than that is considered a refinance and that is not the business they are in for stimulus money."

Among other factors that prevented the project from making the list, Carpenter said, were that it uses state wage-rate rules rather than the higher federal "Davis-Bacon" wage rules, and that project planners could not guarantee all the parts and materials for the project are American-made.

Karen Gallegos, director of the state Environment Department's water and wastewater infrastructure division, confirmed late Wednesday that Carpenter's understanding was accurate.

Of 22 projects that did get a share of the money, Bernalillo, Rio Rancho and mutual domestic associations of Canjilon and Carnuel will get funds for water quality and drinking water infrastructure, along with Belen, Raton, Eagle Nest, Questa, Ruidoso, Wagon Mound, and Los Alamos and San Miguel counties, which will receive money to improve wastewater infrastructure and sewage treatment systems.

Carpenter said there is no danger that the Buckman project will lack funding. The city and county have an agreement on how to share capital costs and have taken such actions as issuing bonds and adopting water-rate increases to meet those goals. A private partner, Las Campanas, is up to date on its share of payments, although a feasibility study about possible changes to the developer's role in the project is under way.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.