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Martinez signs capital outlay bill with $89M for water projects (Alb. Jour.)

Martinez signs capital outlay bill with $89M for water projects

  Updated: 10:33 pm, Tue Mar 11, 2014.                      

Martinez signs capital outlay bill with $89M for water projects
By Staci Matlock The New Mexican

SantaFeNewMexican.com

The city of Las Vegas, N.M., will get funding to expand one of its reservoirs as part of a capital outlay bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Susana Martinez that commits $89 million to beef up water supplies, repair dams and fix acequias around the state.

The bill also provides money to buy new firetrucks, repair school buildings and fix roads.

Las Vegas officials say expanding Bradner Reservoir is vital for the chronically water-strapped city, which came within six weeks of running out of water in 2011. The city provides water to 18,000 customers, including New Mexico Highlands University and a regional hospital. Most of the city’s water comes from the Gallinas River, with water stored at Peterson and Bradner reservoirs. But Bradner can only store about 300 acre-feet of water, and the dam at Peterson has leaked like a sieve for years. (One acre-foot of water equals 325,851 gallons.)

Read more here: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/martinez-signs-capital-outlay-bill-with-m-for-water-projects/article_5771267e-9b2b-5adb-9ea6-c39a44f72f77.html