Title
Approval of the Long-Range Water Supply Plan
Recommended Action
I move that the Board of Public Utilities approve the revised Long-Range Water Supply Plan and forward to the County Council for their consideration.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of the updated Long-Range Water Supply Plan.
Body
DPU contracted with Daniel B. Stephens & Associates, Inc. (DBS&A) to revise the Long-Range Water Supply Plan. Using the original format and data from the Council-adopted 2006 Long-Range Water Supply Plan as a starting point, DBS&A updated the Plan to:
- Reflect current population and water demand projections,
- Evaluate potential climate change impacts, and
- Assess various water supply options, including the timing for development of the County’s San Juan-Chama water rights.
The revised Long-Range Water Supply Plan was presented at a public meeting on November 15, 2016, which had 24 attendees, to the Board of Public Utilities on November 16, 2016 and to the County Council on November 29, 2016. On February 15, 2017, the updated plan was presented to the Utility Board. After presentation of the revised plan and discussion of the comments received from the public the Utility Board took no action and asked that the plan be presented for approval in March 2017. This would accommodate the request by the Pajarito Conservation Alliance to have more time to reveiw the revised plan. The final step, as required by the Office of the State Engineer, is to get County Council approval for adoption of the final revised Plan on March 21, 2017. DPU has received written comments from Robert Wells, the Pajarito Conservation Alliance , Ed Jacobson, and C.M. Gillespie. In addition, staff met with three County Councilors on January 17, 2017 to review the plan in detail. Staff also met with the Pajarito Conservation Alliance on March 7, 2017 to review comments provided by the group in a second letter received on February 13, 2017. Based on input from t...
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