Choices key in stretching city's water supplies

Long-range water plan looks to shrink supply-and-demand gap

Staci Matlock | The New Mexican

11/7/2007 -

Can Santa Fe rustle up enough water for households, xeriscaped yards, businesses and the Santa Fe River over the next 40 years?

Yes, with the right mixture of water sources and conservation, according to Claudia Borchert, water resources coordinator for the city's Sangre de Cristo Water Division.

Borchert laid out a list of choices regarding the city's future long-term water supplies for the Public Utilities Committee on Wednesday. One of the keys is finishing the long-planned Buckman Direct Diversion project on the Rio Grande, she said.

But City Councilor Karen Heldmeyer, a committee member, cautioned even the best plan could mean a water-rate hike. "The reality is water is going to become increasingly expensive," Heldmeyer said. "We can't promise people their rates won't go up."

Reducing demand, increasing the use of treated effluent and increasing water supplies available through the Buckman Direct Diversion project once it is built are just a few of the possibilities for increasing future water supplies, according to Borchert.

By 2045 or earlier in a severe drought, water utility staff predict, demand could leave the city short 5,500 acre-feet a year, based on an average per capita use of 130 gallons of water per day, according to Borchert. One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons.

The long-range water plan looks at how combinations of options could shrink the gap between supply and demand.

City residents already are doing their part. They averaged 116 gallons of water daily per person over the previous five years, and this year have averaged 106 gallons per person.

Santa Fe's supply options start with where the water can come from: city wells, two reservoirs, treated wastewater and the planned Buckman Direct Diversion. Other options include enticing customers to conserve even more and locating new water sources.

Add in issues the city councilors and some residents think are priorities such as protecting the environment and building a cost-effective, sustainable water supply.

Staff then mixed the options around to see what recipe best meets all the needs, especially during a severe drought.

Borchert said no matter how staff looked at it, the same basic combination of water options kept coming to the top: more aggressive water conservation and increasing the water available through the Buckman Direct Diversion.

One way the city can maximize its existing water supplies, for example, is to expand the use of treated effluent to water parks. The city also needs long-term contracts to store unused water the city currently leases from the San Juan-Chama Diversion Project.

Creating a "water-star" rating system, similar to the Energy Star rating for electrical appliances, for new developments, plus offering financial incentives to water customers for conservation, could all stretch water supplies.

City councilors said the public has made it clear though that they're happy to conserve water as long as the savings don't just go to supporting new developments.

The Public Utilities Committee will discuss the long-range plan further at its Dec. 5 meeting. Borchert hopes the committee will approve a plan at its January meeting for consideration by the full council.

Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.