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

SPONSOR J. M. Gutierrez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/24/2007

HB 113

SHORT TITLE NMSU Water Quality & Availability Research

SB

ANALYST McOlash

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$1,600.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB 174.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico State University - Institute for Energy and the Environment (NMSU-IEE)

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

Higher Education Department (HED)

Environment Department – Ground Water Quality Bureau (ED-GWQB)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 113 appropriates $1,600,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of

NMSU for expenditure in FY 2008 to expand research in water quality and availability.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1,600,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2008 shall revert to the

General Fund.

House Bill 113 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The NMSU IEE and NMSU Water Resource Research Institute (WRRI) water programs propose

to increase the number of innovative technology development and deployment that would have

direct impact on water affordability and availability. The objectives of the state request will be

managing programmatic efforts associated with the Tularosa Basin National Inland Water De-

salination facility and conducting research focused on water quality, availability, affordability

and management as well as the Energy-Water connection issues. The IEE and the WRRI will

also focus on increasing water education and outreach as well as training programs.

This appropriation would provide up to 25 graduate student fellowships, 12 faculty members,

and up to 10 staff members. Some examples of education and outreach include Water Wise Fes-

tival, Summer Academy, and Project Wet. Community workshops, adult education programs,

multimedia presentations, and newsletters are educational programs this appropriation would

help to support.

This proposal was submitted to the HED by New Mexico State University and included in the

Department’s funding recommendation for FY08 in the amount of $1,500,000.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The proposal did not indicate goals and objectives and how they will be measured. The roles and

responsibilities are unclear for federal agencies, private entities, and New Mexico State Univer-

sity as research partners in working toward desalinization technologies of inland brackish water

that are cost effective and can be easily implemented.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Duplicates SB 174.

BM/nt