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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Griego

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-6-06

HB

SHORT TITLE

TAOS COUNTY AQUIFER MONITORING

PROJECT

SB 570

ANALYST Hadwiger

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$185.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to SB343, Companion to SB569.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

New Mexico Department of Environment (NMED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 570 appropriates $185 thousand from the general fund to the Local Government Di-

vision (LGD) of the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) in FY07 to develop and

implement a Taos county aquifer monitoring project.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $185 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 would revert to

the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DFA explained that SB570, with it companion bill SB569, are phases III and I, respectively of a

multi-phased project which, when completed, will create a ground water protection program that

Senate Bill 570 – Page 2

monitors existing wells in Taos County for aquifer depletion and water quality. The funding in

SB 570 will complete Phase I which has been ongoing for the past three years. Phase I is a to-

pographical survey of the Taos County aquifer and all of its users. This is the first step in the

County's long term ground water protection plan by monitoring draw downs pertaining to senior

water rights, irrigated land, and the 7,400 individual domestic wells that may impact the water

quality of the aquifer. The funds will pay for the services of a hydrologist, a geologist, field

technician, professional services contracts, map reproduction and digitization, and water sam-

pling. Subsequent phases, including SB 569, are dependent on SB 570 being funded and the

Phase I survey completed.

OSE urged that this program be more closely integrated into groundwater monitoring programs

run by that agency and by the USGS. OSE wrote that additional aquifer monitoring is always

useful to improve the understanding of how water levels are responding to well diversions and

recharge. OSE maintains a long-term monitoring network in Taos County. In addition to this

network, OSE understands that the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources

(NMBGMR) is already involved in the collection of water level data with local individuals. The

Town of Taos and Taos Pueblo may also have monitoring programs in place. SB570 does not

provide a purpose nor does it describe the type of monitoring to be performed. Typically aquifer

monitoring refers to the collection of groundwater level data from existing wells. The level of

funding requested seems excessive for this activity alone, according to OSE.

The OSE maintains a statewide aquifer monitoring program with the U.S. Geological Survey

(USGS) for about the same level of funding as requested in the bill. The OSE monitoring pro-

gram includes approximately 2,600 wells and was designed to incorporate a monitoring distribu-

tion specific for the needs of New Mexico. Long-term monitoring is required to assess water

level changes over time but the bill proposes monitoring for one year. A groundwater flow

model for water resource administration and planning in the Taos area has just been finalized.

The project included an assessment of water level changes. In general, water levels are fairly

stable in the study area. A number of tributaries to the Rio Grande are located in the area and

help maintain stable water levels. Additional water level measurement would be useful, but data

collection should expand a period longer than one year to identify water level changes. Since the

OSE maintains a water level measuring program, the project should be coordinated with the

OSE. Other parties should also be made of aware of the program for potential cooperation. The

OSE can assist in this coordination.

OSE indicated data collected under this bill should be provided to the USGS for inclusion into

their water level database. This database is the accepted repository for this information and al-

lows wide public access.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

NMED indicated that SB570 does not have significant performance implications for the agency.

However, monitoring of ground water would allow for the regional assessment of ground water

aquifers and provide additional information that NMED could use in the issue of discharge per-

mits and abatement of ground water pollution in Taos County. Thus, SB570 could result in long-

term improvements in ground water quality in Taos County.

Senate Bill 570 – Page 2

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The grant will be administered through DFA which already has the staff and the knowledge to

easily fund and monitor this project.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to SB343, Companion to SB569.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

OSE indicated that data collected from the program should reside in the U.S. Geological Survey

water resource database to ensure wide access to information obtained. This database is the

widely accepted repository for hydrologic information. Inasmuch as the OSE maintains a coop-

erative program with the USGS to maintain this information, the project should be coordinated

with the OSE.

OSE also indicated that the NMBGMR will perform this work if the bill is approved. However, it

appears likely that NMBGMR staff will be tied up with other projects year and have been ad-

vised that staffing limitations restrict the initiation of new projects. Due to staffing limitations, a

period longer than one year would ensure adequate time to perform the project.

NMED was concerned that the DFA was not the best agency to administer this project, noting

that SB570 appropriates funds to LGD/DFA for development and implementation of a ground

water monitoring project in Taos County. However, LGD/DFA is not a science-based organiza-

tion that has the technical expertise to develop and implement a ground water monitoring project.

It would be more appropriate for technical scientific experts, such as geologists and hydrologists

at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology associated with the NM Tech, to develop and implement

a ground water monitoring project. Therefore, SB570’s general fund appropriation should be

made to the Board of Regents of the NM Tech to pay for the New Mexico Bureau of Geology to

develop and implement this aquifer monitoring project.

DH/mt