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Record of Proceedings

Water Policy Advisory Committee Regular Meeting - October 12, 2026

Meeting Portal — Monday, October 12, 2026
BodyClovis, New Mexico
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, October 12, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 30:14

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

5:50

Commissioner Jones.

5:52

Commissioner Tarsen.

5:53

Here.

5:54

Commissioner Zamora.

5:55

Here.

5:55

Commissioner Bryant.

Speaker 2

5:57

Here.

Speaker 1

5:57

Seth Martin.

5:59

Raymond Dragon.

Speaker 2

6:02

Here.

Speaker 1

6:03

Leo Lavette.

Unassigned speaker

6:04

Or

Speaker 1

6:04

Love

Unassigned speaker

6:05

It.

Speaker 1

6:06

Richard Bradfeet.

Speaker 2

6:08

Here.

Speaker 1

6:09

And

Speaker 2

6:09

Vince.

6:10

We barely have a quorum, but we do.

Speaker 1

6:14

DeMayo.

Speaker 2

6:16

Okay.

Unassigned speaker

6:17

Okay,

Speaker 2

6:18

we do have a quorum, so we'll move down to the approval of the minute.

6:20

Are there any corrections to the minutes?

Unassigned speaker

6:23

Okay,

Speaker 2

6:23

seeing none.

6:24

We'll approve the minutes and record a yes vote for all the members that are present.

Unassigned speaker

6:29

We

Speaker 2

6:29

have no new business.

Unassigned speaker

6:31

Go

Speaker 2

6:31

into reports.

6:33

I don't see Mark Worker with Epcorts.

6:36

We'll move up to the city update with Mr.

6:38

Howalt.

Speaker 3

6:39

Thank you, Mr.

6:40

Chairman, members of the committee.

6:41

So we continue to make uh progress on a couple of uh design efforts as well as study efforts.

6:47

Uh our reuse project, uh what we've coined as phase three of the reuse project uh is at 60 percent design, uh which is for those of you that aren't aware, we are working on the uh ponds at Hillcrest Park uh to make that deeper so we have more volume there, and then we're also working on the ponds at uh the front line of the golf course at Colonial Park, and so that one also uh we're gonna make deeper to add volume to that way.

7:12

That way it allows us um from a management of the water standpoint and from an irrigation standpoint, obviously uh if depending on the number of end users and the timing of when they're actually irrigating, uh it it gives us that volume and extra capacity to be able to draw down on to where it's not impacting the elevated storage tank or our storage tanks out at the uh wastewater treatment plant uh for that facility.

7:36

But we're at 60 percent design uh with that.

7:39

The plan for that project is once we are finished with the design, which will be uh prior to the next uh water trust board uh application cycle, uh we will start to apply for water trust board funding to go to construction uh with that project.

7:52

Uh the other project that we have going on that is under uh I'm gonna say in design, but as part of a study, is our 40-year uh water master plan.

8:02

And so that one we contract with Daniel B.

8:05

Stevens and associates.

8:07

And what it does is it actually protects your water rights.

8:10

So the Office of the State Engineer is the authority over all water rights within the state of New Mexico.

8:16

And if you're not showing that you have your water rights being put to beneficial use, they can actually uh take back your water rights.

8:24

And so by having a 40-year water plan in place, we even though you may not be using them, uh, you can show that they're what you're projected to use them for.

8:34

And so uh we're wrapping that up.

8:36

I have the draft of that.

8:37

Um reviewing that right now.

8:38

Uh and then once uh any comments are addressed, if there are any, then we'll submit it to the state engineer's office to have on file.

8:46

Of course, the city does have um lots of water rights.

8:49

I mean, we own 3200 acres out at Ned Hulk Park that we have water rights associated with.

8:54

Uh all of our uh park space within the city of Clovis, we have water rights associated with those.

8:59

Uh out at the landfill, we have lots of water rights that we have uh associated with it at the airport, we have water rights.

9:06

And so while we don't use those, we want to be able to protect them.

9:10

That way, if we did need to work with Epcor in the future in that partnership uh from a leasing standpoint, which we have done, uh, that they would be there and available for them to be able to uh potentially put to beneficial use if so needed.

9:22

And so uh working on that uh project as well.

9:25

In regards to the jumping back to the reuse in regards to use of the reuse system uh for this fiscal year, uh we have delivered 92 million gallons uh to date, which is about 0.25 million gallons per day.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████████████████████████████████87%
Procedural███████13%
Summary of Proceedings

Water Policy Advisory Committee Regular Meeting

The Water Policy Advisory Committee met on October 12, 2026, at 8:30 AM in the North Annex, Clovis, NM. The committee reviewed and approved the minutes from the April 13, 2026 meeting, received updates on city water reuse and water rights planning, and heard a detailed progress report on the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System (Ute Pipeline Project).

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the April 13, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously by the members present.

Discussion Items

  • City Update (Mr. Howalt): The city is progressing on the Phase 3 reuse project, which involves deepening the ponds at Hillcrest Park and Colonial Park Golf Course to increase water storage capacity. The design is at 60%. A 40-year water master plan is being finalized with Daniel B. Stevens and Associates to protect the city's water rights, which include rights for 3,200 acres at Ned Hulk Park, city parks, the landfill, and the airport. To date in the current fiscal year, the reuse system has delivered 92 million gallons of water, with July (25.8M), August (37M), and September (28.8M) volumes reported. The Clovis school district has committed to connecting remaining facilities to the reuse system.
  • Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority Update (Ms. Bowens): The Ute Pipeline Project has a water delivery goal of 2031. Federal government has committed 75% of capital costs, the state 15%, and local communities 10%. Pipeline phases: Raw Water Phase1 (awarded, pre-mobilization), Phase2 (most complex, involves tunnel/bore through Cap Rock), Phase3 (64% complete). Finished Water Phase1 (complete), Phase3 (complete). Clovis's Canon lateral (complete), Elida lateral (90% design), Texaco lateral (81% complete). Intake pump station and water treatment plant design are complete or underway. The project will draw 16,450 acre-feet annually from Ute Reservoir, which is 8% of the reservoir's capacity and can be replenished by one or two rain events. A drought management plan is in place.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous approval of the April 13, 2026 meeting minutes.
  • The next meeting is scheduled for 8:30 AM on Monday, January 11, 2027, at the North Annex, Clovis-Carver Library.

Meeting Transcript

Commissioner Jones. Commissioner Tarsen. Here. Commissioner Zamora. Here. Commissioner Bryant. Here. Seth Martin. Raymond Dragon. Here. Leo Lavette. Or Love It. Richard Bradfeet. Here. And Vince. We barely have a quorum, but we do. DeMayo. Okay. Okay, we do have a quorum, so we'll move down to the approval of the minute. Are there any corrections to the minutes? Okay, seeing none. We'll approve the minutes and record a yes vote for all the members that are present. We have no new business. Go into reports. I don't see Mark Worker with Epcorts. We'll move up to the city update with Mr. Howalt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. So we continue to make uh progress on a couple of uh design efforts as well as study efforts. Uh our reuse project, uh what we've coined as phase three of the reuse project uh is at 60 percent design, uh which is for those of you that aren't aware, we are working on the uh ponds at Hillcrest Park uh to make that deeper so we have more volume there, and then we're also working on the ponds at uh the front line of the golf course at Colonial Park, and so that one also uh we're gonna make deeper to add volume to that way. That way it allows us um from a management of the water standpoint and from an irrigation standpoint, obviously uh if depending on the number of end users and the timing of when they're actually irrigating, uh it it gives us that volume and extra capacity to be able to draw down on to where it's not impacting the elevated storage tank or our storage tanks out at the uh wastewater treatment plant uh for that facility. But we're at 60 percent design uh with that. The plan for that project is once we are finished with the design, which will be uh prior to the next uh water trust board uh application cycle, uh we will start to apply for water trust board funding to go to construction uh with that project. Uh the other project that we have going on that is under uh I'm gonna say in design, but as part of a study, is our 40-year uh water master plan. And so that one we contract with Daniel B. Stevens and associates. And what it does is it actually protects your water rights. So the Office of the State Engineer is the authority over all water rights within the state of New Mexico. And if you're not showing that you have your water rights being put to beneficial use, they can actually uh take back your water rights. And so by having a 40-year water plan in place, we even though you may not be using them, uh, you can show that they're what you're projected to use them for. And so uh we're wrapping that up. I have the draft of that.

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