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

SPONSOR Papen

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/21/08

HB

SHORT TITLE NMSU Dam Safety Center

SB 27

ANALYST Cox

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$500.0 Non-Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

Department of Higher Education (HED)

Responses Received From

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

Department of Higher Education (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 27 requests an appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) from the

general fund to the board of regents of New Mexico State University for expenditure in fiscal

year 2009 to establish a dam safety center to provide research, training and professional services

in flood control dam maintenance and operation. This Senate Bill refers to the Lower Rio

Grande’ area dams, such as Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $500,000 contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall

revert to the general fund.

NMSU states that the proposed project will support two faculty members and five graduate

students to perform an evaluation of EBID’s inventory of dams and propose technical solutions

to the problems they present. In partnership with EBID, the faculty and graduate students will

propose funding mechanisms, including federal grants, creation of watershed districts to assess

property protected by the dams, and impact fees for development. The faculty and EBID will

Senate Bill 27 – Page

2

also prepare a detailed plan to make the Dam Safety and Inspection Center a sustainable

organization, funded by research grants, training fees, and service fees for inspections.

HED states that subsequent funding for the Dam Safety Center is expected to come from the

partnerships with EBID and potential partnerships established in the first year.

This request was submitted by NMSU to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for

review, but is not included in the Department’s funding executive recommendation for FY09.

The HED’s evaluation table of FY09 Research and Public Service Projects provided to the LFC

classifies this project as a “would not oppose if funding available" project. Reasons for this

classification decision are not provided. (LFC Report 07-20, Higher Education Department

Review of Selected Research and Public Service Projects, January 12, 2008, Table 4, p74.)

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

NMSU states that the requested funding will identify means and methods to comply with new

federal regulations to improve dam safety. This Bill will strengthen the capabilities of the

engineering faculty to improve dam safety inspections across New Mexico.

HED states that EBID owns 27 flood control dams in southern New Mexico that were built from

the 1950s to the 1970s. NMSU would use the funds to partner with EBID to assess the dams’

hydrological, hydraulic, and geotechnical conditions. NMSU proposes to work with state and

federal agencies to share information about project experiences to other parts of the state and

region through the Dam Safety and Inspection Center’ ongoing research, service and training

functions.

NMSU states that economic development in much of New Mexico is predicated on adequate

flood protection infrastructure. Hundreds of small flood control dams in the state provide

inadequate protection for high hazard assets such as residential and industrial development.

During August and September of 2006, we saw the potential damage from intense rainfall and

runoff events

PRC/bb