Summary:

  House Bill 390 (HB 390) appropriates twelve million dollars ($12,000,000) to the Department of Environment to plan, design, construct, replace, and improve water lines in Curry County.


 

Legislation Overview:

 House Bill 390 (HB 390) appropriates twelve million dollars ($12,000,000) from the General Fund (GF) to the Department of Environment (NMED) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 through FY 2028 to plan, design, construct, replace, and improve water lines in Curry County.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2028 reverts to the GF.

 

Current Law:

 The Eastern NM Water Utility Authority’s water pipeline system is called the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System (ENMRWS), also known as the Ute Pipeline Project. It is a regional rural water supply project designed to address municipal and industrial water supply issues resulting from a declining and deteriorating Ogallala groundwater source. The system should deliver 16,415-acre feet of renewable potable water annually to four-member communities that include Clovis, Portales, Texico, Elida, areas in Roosevelt and Curry counties, and Cannon Air Force Base. The federal Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 authorized the ENMRWS. On 1 July 2010 the state enacted the Eastern New Water Utility Authority Act (Section 73-27-4 NMSA 1978), which makes that entity an official governmental Water Utility Authority. Not only is Clovis, a city in Curry County, growing, but the water supply at Cannon Air Force Base has been polluted with “forever chemicals”.
According to the NMED analysis, that agency regulates public drinking water systems but lacks the administrative and technical capacity for direct project management. The agency suggests that regulatory and project management/development roles could create a conflict of interest.