Our Story

The Canadian River Compact was signed by the member states of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma and ratified by their respective Legislatures in 1950. The compact was approved by Congress and signed into law by the President in 1952. In 1959 the New Mexico Legislature passed an Act authorizing the State Engineer to construct a dam on the Canadian River near Logan. Soon after, work on developing and constructing Ute Reservoir began and the dam was completed in 1963 by the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC). The dam and reservoir are owned by the NMISC for the purpose of impounding water for municipal water use.

Planning for a regional water pipeline began in the early 1960’s with some initial documentation describing planning studies that included several eastern New Mexico communities and counties. In 1964 a feasibility study was completed based on a diversion and pipeline from Ute Reservoir to communities in eastern New Mexico as a supplemental source of water. In 1987, the communities of three counties, Roosevelt, Curry, and Quay composed of 12 members communities of Portales, Elida, Roosevelt County, Clovis, Texico, Melrose, Grady, Curry County, Tucumcari, Logan, San Jon, and Quay County began working together toward developing and constructing a regional water pipeline and soon formed a Joint Powers of Agreement that allowed for a mechanism in which they could contract a reservation and purchase of Ute Reservoir water from the NMISC for the purpose of building a regional water pipeline to their communities. The group called themselves the Ute Reservoir Water Commission (URWC). Under article II of the JPA, titled Purposes, the language states:

The purpose of this Agreement are to:

A.      Protect and utilize future and existing water rights and water resources of the parties which are to be allocated herein.

B.      Provide mechanisms, through the adoption of future joint powers agreements, for the parties to plan, develop, acquire, and finance a water supply and distribution system  or systems to furnish, supply, and provide water for the use of the parties from sources in, upon, along, and tributary to the Canadian River and the Ute Reservoir Project  and groundwater with the State of New Mexico, including the financing of water storage, conveyance, and water treatment projects.

The communities began working together to plan for a regional water pipeline that came to be called “Ute Pipeline Project” Its official name today is the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System. The group called themselves the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority. A few years later Tucumcari, Logan, San Jon, and Quay County withdrew from the pipeline project but choose to keep their water allocation reservation of 7,550-acre feet. Soon after, Roosevelt County withdrew from the project and transferred its allocation of 100-acre feet to Portales. 

The remaining members of the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority continued to press forward with the planning of the pipeline project. The efforts to receive financial support from the federal government and state of New Mexico were a priority. After several more years of work in planning and seeking support from the federal government, the project became federally authorized in 2009. This authorization meant the project would be financially supported by the federal government for up to 75 percent of the cost and would be overseen by the United State Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). The very next year, the New Mexico Legislature passed the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority Act giving the group official local government water utility authority status and structure. The group’s official name became the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority (ENMWUA) and membership included Clovis, Texico, Melrose, Grady, Curry County, Portales, and Elida. The work continued in developing the planning and design of the ENMRWS. In 2016, enough funds were collected to begin construction of the Intake Facility at Ute Reservoir. In 2018, the first transmission segment called Finished Water 2 (FW2) began to be constructed, a 7.5 mile stretch of transmission pipeline that connected Clovis and Cannon Air Force Base.

Since 2018, the ENMWUA has received positive financial support from the federal government through the United State Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and state government through the Water Trust Board (WTB) program, Legislature, and Governor, and from the member communities through annual member contributions.

In early 2020, Curry County, Melrose, and Grady requested to withdraw from the ENMWUA citing that they preferred to go a different direction with their needs. On March 6, 2020, the three entities withdrawal became official with the Governor signing an amendment to the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority Act removing them as members.

On November 15, 2021, the President of the United States signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The infrastructure bill earmarked $1 billion toward completing the federally authorized Rural Water projects under the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The ENMWUA is among the recipients to receive funding to complete construction of the ENMRWS. Funding will be distributed over a five-year period beginning in FY2022.

With the federal IIJA funding injection, the state of New Mexico increased their contributions, and the local membership followed with membership contributions and borrowings through the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (DWSRLF) program. Soon after the FW2 pipeline segment was completed, ENMWUA began construction of Finished Water 3 (FW3), the 17.2-mile transmission pipeline connecting from FW2 to Portales. Finished Water 1 (FW1), a 15.5-mile segment connecting from FW2 and going north to the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) location has followed and is currently under construction. The next segment to be constructed is Raw Water 3 (RW3) a 21.7-mile pipeline segment that begins at the WTP location and goes north ending at the edge of the Caprock. RW3 contract has been awarded and is currently under Pre-mobilization with construction to begin early spring of 2025. The ENMWUA plans to publish Requests for Proposals (RFP) for construction of segments Raw Water 1 (RW1) and Texico Lateral by December 2024. All remaining segments of the pipeline and facilities including pump stations, storage tanks, and water treatment plant are under design and are planned to go to construction within the next two years. The ENMRWS is scheduled to be completed in 2031.   

For more information on the project, visit our FAQ’s page!

Schedule of Future Board Meetings

REGULAR MEETING

Next Meeting Date: Thursday, December 19, 2024.

The meeting will begin at 3:00 pm

Where: Clovis Carver Library, 701 N. Main Street, Clovis NM, 88101.