County OKs plan for backup water

The Santa Fe County Commission approved a plan Tuesday that formalizes its intentions to use well water as a backup after the Buckman Direct Diversion project, which will pull water from the Rio Grande, comes online.

The idea behind the plan is that the county will pump water from the wells only in times of severe drought. The rest of the time, it would use the surface water provided by the diversion project, allowing time for the wells to rest and groundwater aquifers to recharge.

The county has applied to the Office of the State Engineer to transfer about 200 acre-feet of water rights into 19 wells throughout the county to be used in the plan.

County hydrologist Karen Torres said the 19 wells will never be used simultaneously and ideally won't be used much at all. But they are needed in case there is an interruption to the flow of water from the diversion project. That could happen if a storm washes out infrastructure, she said, or if the level of the river at Otowi Gauge near the diversion drops below 200 cubic feet per second, in which case the county would be required by its diversion permits to cease drawing water from the river.

Approval is needed from the state engineer to make the plan a reality.

N.M. representative to step down

GLENCOE, N.M. — Rep. W.C. "Dub" Williams announced Tuesday that he is retiring, just days before the 60-day legislative session is scheduled to begin.

Williams, a Glencoe Republican who has represented Lincoln and Otero counties for more than a decade, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday night. But fellow legislators said they believed health concerns were among Williams' reasons for leaving his position.

Williams, who won re-election to his seat in November, had served on a number of legislative committees, including Education, Indian Affairs, and Consumer and Public Affairs. He also served on the Public School Capital Outlay Oversight Task Force.

Gov. Bill Richardson requested Lincoln and Otero county commissions seriously consider Williams' wishes in recommending nominees to fill the vacant legislative seat. The governor will appoint the replacement.

Williams, a rancher and retired educator, was first elected to the District 56 House seat in 1994.

Attorney: Eclipse off auction table

ALBUQUERQUE — Eclipse Aviation Corp. will not be put up for public auction this week after no qualified bids to purchase the troubled Albuquerque jet manufacturer were received by a Tuesday deadline.

Dan Guyder, a partner with Eclipse's law firm, Allen & Overy LLP in New York, said two committees of security-note holders and unsecured creditors determined there were no qualified bids for the company in a Tuesday teleconference.

The lack of bids for Eclipse allows the company's largest shareholder, the Luxembourg-based ETIRC Aviation, to move ahead with plans to purchase the company.

Guyder says ETIRC affiliate EclipseJet Aviation International Inc. plans to pay $28 million in cash, issue $160 million in new notes and offer 15 percent equity in the company to senior secured note holders.

City uses goats for weed control

MESA, Ariz. — Mesa is using goats to rid one of its water reclamation sites of weeds and brush.

Under a six-month contract with the city's Utilities Department, Arizona herdsman Eco Goats will provide 80 goats to clear the slopes of the water-retention ponds at the Northwest Water Reclamation Plant.

The first 10 goats were brought into their new grazing area Jan. 5.

Utilities Department Water Division Director Bill Haney says the design of the retention pounds and the amount of vegetation at the site make it difficult to use machines and to keep down the weeds.

Officials hope the goats can do a better job, saying in a statement they'll "eat just about anything resembling a plant."

Besides, Haney says goats are a "more sustainable and environmentally responsible form of weed control."

Alamogordo City Commission goes paperless

ALAMOGORDO — Alamogordo expects to save thousands of dollars by not printing agendas for City Commission meetings.

Instead, city commissioners have received new laptop computers and will receive agendas on CDs. The agendas will be posted on Alamogordo's Web site for the public.

Commissioner Joe Ferguson says it's easier to read an agenda on the computer.

He says he used to pick up the paper agenda on Fridays, then sit down and read through it. He says it's quicker to view it on the computer, and he can look at things that catch his interest in more detail.

Mayor Steve Brockett says city administrators should be setting the example for employees in tightening their belts.

Woman ordered to repay $30,000

AZTEC — A judge has ordered a 22-year-old Farmington woman to repay more than $30,000 stolen from a restaurant where she was a hostess.

Diana Pineda-Terrazas in September entered an Alford plead to embezzlement after admitting taking about $4,500 from Farmington's Los Hermanitos restaurant over 10 months. An Alford plea means the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors might have enough evidence to convict.

The restaurant's owners contend the amount taken was more than six times what the woman admitted.

State District Judge Thomas Hynes on Monday sentenced her to repay the entire $30,217 missing, but says he will reconsider if she passes a lie-detector test on how much money she stole.

He also put Pineda-Terrazas on three years' supervised probation.

Man arrested in child solicitation

CLOVIS — A Laguna Pueblo man has been accused of arranging to meet an underage girl for a sexual encounter after chatting with her online.

Stuart Romero, 24, faces one felony charge of child solicitation by electronic device.

Romero allegedly began chatting online with an undercover agent who was pretending to be an underage girl from the Clovis area.

Investigators say the conversations became sexually graphic, and Romero asked to meet the girl for sex.

Romero planned to travel to Clovis to meet the girl. Afterward, he planned to continue on to Las Cruces, where he attends New Mexico State University.

Romero was arrested after showing up at a decoy house Sunday.

Romero is being held on a $20,000 cash-only bond.