SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 3

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2022

INTRODUCED BY

Linda M. Lopez

 

 

 

 

 

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO BUREAU OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH TO EVALUATE THE FISCAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSED SANTOLINA DEVELOPMENT IN BERNALILLO COUNTY AND PROVIDE REPORTS TO VARIOUS INTERIM LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES.

 

     WHEREAS, generations of small farmers and ranchers in Bernalillo county have depended on water supplied by the Rio Grande and ground water aquifers; and

     WHEREAS, the viability of small, family-owned farm and ranch businesses has historically been dependent on the reliability of available water resources; and

     WHEREAS, the farming and ranching community in Bernalillo county is a critical component for maintaining a resilient and diversified economy for the county, the city of Albuquerque and New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, small, family-owned farms and ranches have experienced a decline in recent decades due to a variety of market pressures; and

     WHEREAS, in recent years, the Rio Grande valley has increasingly experienced severe drought conditions that have created continuing constraints on the availability of water for all water users; and

     WHEREAS, the long-term prospects for annual precipitation in the Rio Grande valley are uncertain; and

     WHEREAS, a new community development called Santolina is being proposed for an area near Albuquerque; and

     WHEREAS, the proposed Santolina development is being planned for approximately thirty-two thousand family homes and a potential population of approximately one hundred thousand people; and

     WHEREAS, a new development of the size of Santolina would create significant new demands on the available water resources in the Rio Grande valley in Bernalillo county; and

     WHEREAS, further demands on the available water resources within the Rio Grande valley would place additional strains on small, family-owned farms and ranches in the valley, possibly leading to further decline in the number of such farms and ranches;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research be requested to evaluate the foreseeable economic impacts that the proposed Santolina community development west of Albuquerque would have on Bernalillo county and the fiscal implications the development would have on:

          A. New Mexico and the New Mexico state government;

          B. Albuquerque and the Albuquerque city government;

          C. the Albuquerque metropolitan arroyo flood control authority;

          D. the Albuquerque public school district;

          E. the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority; and

          F. Bernalillo county government; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that prior to December 1, 2022, the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research report the results of its evaluation to the interim legislative committees tasked with studying economic development, rural development and water issues; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the president of the university of New Mexico; the director of the university of New Mexico bureau of business and economic research; the mayor of the city of Albuquerque; the board of directors of the Albuquerque metropolitan arroyo flood control authority; the board of the Albuquerque public school district; the board of county commissioners of Bernalillo county; and the board of directors of the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority.

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