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

SPONSOR Nava

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/19/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE STATEWIDE AQUIFER MAPPING PROJECT

SB 81

ANALYST McOlash

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$650.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates House Bill 41

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 81 appropriates $650,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of New

Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology for expenditure in FY 2008 and subsequent fiscal

years for the Bureau of Geology and Mineral resources to conduct statewide aquifer mapping.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Based on program history at NMTech, the appropriation of $650,000 contained in this bill is

identified as a recurring expense to the General Fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered

balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Information on the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology website indicates that the

Bureau of Geology and Mineral resources has been engaged in hydrogeologic studies of New

Mexico’s aquifers for ten years in cooperation with partners at the New Mexico Office of the

State Engineer and the New Mexico Environment Department. Beginning in the mid-1990s with

geologic mapping and aquifer analysis in the Albuquerque Basin and a hydrogeology study in

Senate Bill 81 – Page

2

Placitas, the Bureau has since developed an aquifer mapping program that applies a combination

of geologic geophysical, hydrologic, and geochemical information to develop descriptive models

of groundwater flow in important aquifers around the state.

Aquifer studies range in scope from short-term local projects to long-term, regional studies

engaging a variety of disciplines and collaborators. With support from the 2005 State Legislature

in the form of a $300,000 one-year appropriation, the program has been able to complete some

studies while continuing or starting others. Past efforts have completed or contributed to studies

in the Albuquerque Basin, Placitas, Estancia Basin, and the Taos Valley. Results of a three-year

study in the Española Basin are contributing to a collaborative effort by Santa Fe County and the

City of Santa Fe to build a regional groundwater flow model to assist with resource

administration and management. In 2005, a multi-year water-level monitoring study continued

in the Roswell artesian basin, while studies in Arroyo Hondo north of Taos and the Peñasco

Valley were completed and new investigations initiated in the Sacramento Mountains east of

Alamogordo and near Seven Rivers in the lower Pecos River valley.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

NMTech provides administrative support for the Bureau of Geology and Mineral significant

additional impact is anticipated if this legislation is adopted.

DUPLICATION

Senate Bill 81 duplicates House Bill 41

BM/csd