SENATE MEMORIAL 63

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

Gerald Ortiz y Pino

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TO CHARGE THE APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE INTERIM COMMITTEE WITH CONDUCTING WELL-PUBLICIZED HEARINGS REGARDING THE QUALITY OF DRINKING WATER SUPPLIED BY THE ALBUQUERQUE-BERNALILLO COUNTY WATER UTILITY AUTHORITY.

     WHEREAS, more than five hundred thousand people in the city of Albuquerque and the county of Bernalillo depend upon the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority for their drinking water; and

     WHEREAS, the water that the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority treats and supplies comes from sources that include well water from the Santa Fe group aquifer and water from the San Juan-Chama drinking water project; and

     WHEREAS, the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority's mission is to "provide reliable, high quality, affordable and sustainable water supply, wastewater collection treatment, and reuse systems"; and

     WHEREAS, part of ensuring a safe water supply is examining the sources of water and any possible contaminants to the waters; and

     WHEREAS, according to environmental experts such as Dr. Arjun Makhijani, the federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 standards on which the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority relies are so out of date that the water that Americans drink can pose serious health risks and still be legal; and

     WHEREAS, there are at least one hundred thousand industrial chemicals in the environment, and over ninety-nine percent of the industrial chemicals in the United States are unregulated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974; and

     WHEREAS, according to the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority's web site, the last assessment that the department of environment performed on the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water supply took place in 2002; and

     WHEREAS, some public health advocacy groups have had difficulty obtaining current and detailed water quality data from the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority; and

     WHEREAS, there are no current national standards for pharmaceuticals in drinking water, though research by the associated press reveals that these pharmaceuticals are present in almost every drinking water system tested; and

     WHEREAS, the Las Conchas fire and the preventive fires that burned on or near the site of Los Alamos national laboratory resulted in ash and other pollutants that entered the Rio Grande waters in 2011; and

     WHEREAS, Los Alamos national laboratory is upstream from the Rio Grande watershed that feeds the San Juan-Chama drinking water project; and

     WHEREAS, the existing gross alpha maximum contamination level of fifteen picocuries per liter does not provide adequate protection from radiation contamination and should be set at a more stringent level of fifteen hundredths picocuries per liter for long-lived, alpha-emitting transuranic radionuclides such as plutonium 239; and

     WHEREAS, Colorado and California have more protective surface water standards than New Mexico for alpha-emitting radionuclides such as plutonium and also for tritium; and

     WHEREAS, the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority treatment facilities do not include a membrane filtering system such as those found in most modern drinking water treatment plants, including those in Tucson, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas; in Santa Fe's Buckman direct diversion project; and in home and commercial drinking water filters and dispensers; and

     WHEREAS, the people supplied by the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority include infants, children, women, seniors, infirm individuals and others with weakened or underdeveloped immune systems, all of whom require the safest possible drinking water supply; and

     WHEREAS, contaminants and high contamination levels can take decades to cause serious health effects, and as a result, it is important to maintain very low contaminant concentrations; and

     WHEREAS, the importance of the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water supply cannot be overstated, as its waters will continue to be used in increasing amounts by an expanding population, even while there remain questions regarding the security of the area's water supply;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to charge the interim legislative committee that studies water and natural resources with conducting well-publicized hearings regarding the quality of drinking water provided by the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority as the water emerges from the San Juan-Chama drinking water project, as well as the effect that plans to inject and store drinking water in the aquifer will have on the quality of this water; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico legislative council be requested to charge the committee with receiving independent expert testimony on the effectiveness and reliability of the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority water treatment process; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee be requested to hold hearings to examine the possible influence of upstream contaminants in the Rio Grande, including wastewater discharges, on the quality of the finished tap water that is diverted via the San Juan-Chama drinking water project; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council.

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