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

SPONSOR:	Marquardt		DATE TYPED:	02/28/03		HB	HJM-94
SHORT TITLE:		Salt Flats Water Pipeline Feasibility Study				SB
					ANALYST:		Chabot

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY03	FY04	FY03	FY04
	NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Interstate Stream Commission (ISC)

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Joint Memorial 94 resolves that ISC and the New Mexico Finance Authority study the feasibility of constructing a water transmission pipeline from the salt flats of Otero county to needy urban areas, such as Las Cruces, Carlsbad, Alamogordo and Roswell, instead of transferring irrigation water rights with resulting expensive litigation and construction of infrastructure to transport surface water from the Pecos River and Rio Grande. It further resolves that ISC report findings to the Legislature by November 1, 2003.

Significant Issues

According to ISC, a study has already been done on transporting water from the Salt Basin to other areas of the state where it could be used. While “technically feasible…the estimated costs render the project economically unfavorable for the foreseeable future.” ISC has filed three applications to appropriate 30,000 acre-feet annually from the Salt Basin to meet compact deliveries on the Pecos River, and for municipal, industrial and commercial purposes. The agency states “an extension of the 2002 ISC study to include feasibility of supplying water from the Salt Basin to neighboring urban areas is a logical next step.”

GAC/njw