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SPONSOR: |
Griego |
DATE TYPED: |
2/25/03 |
HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Integrate Desalinization into Water Plans |
SB |
SJM 71 |
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ANALYST: |
Chabot |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
NFI |
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates
to SB 195 and HB 260 on water planning.
Relates
to a special appropriation in the 2002 General Appropriation Act of $500.0 for
statewide water planning.
LFC Files
Responses
Received From
Interstate
Stream Commission (ISC)
New
Mexico Environment Department (NMED)
Office
of the State Engineer (OSE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate Joint Memorial
71 resolves ISC be requested to integrate the use of desalination into its
state water plans and to look for avenues to reduce or remove impediments to
the development of brackish water treatment facilities. Private entities such as the New Mexico Water
Resources Institute and the New Mexico Waste-management Education and Research
Consortium are requested to place a high priority on brackish water in helping
communities meet their needs.
Significant
Issues
New Mexico has significant resources of brackish
water that have been too expensive to develop.
Technology continues improve resulting in reduced costs. The City of El Paso is investing in a plant
to process brackish water for drinking water in conjunction with the U.S.
Army. At full capacity, they expect
costs to be in the $0.25 to $0.50 per gallon.
The City of Alamogordo and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have conducted
pilot studies in the Tularosa Basin on treating brackish water to drinking water
standards.
ISC analysis is “treatment of saline water is
technically feasible, however, depending on the depth to water and the degree
of saline content, capital and energy costs associated with desalinization of
brackish or saline water can be significant and disposal of the waste stream is
an environmental concern. Specific
feasibility studies are required to determine the location and depth of saline
and brackish water in the state.”
NMED has similar comments.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The names of the entities listed on page 3, lines 6-7 are the Water Resources Research Institute at New Mexico State University and the Waste-management Education and Research Consortium at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Recommend that on page 3, line 5 strike
“private”, on page 3, line 6 after the word “resources” insert “research” and
on page 3, line 7 after the word “management” insert “education”.
GAC/yr