Take a flight over the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System, the regional pipeline that will carry water from Ute Reservoir near Logan to Clovis, Portales, Texico, Elida and Cannon Air Force Base.

The video begins over the Caprock, the escarpment the raw water pipeline climbs on its way south from the reservoir. It then follows crews trenching and installing pipe, visits the water treatment pilot project on the south shore of Ute Reservoir, and passes over Ute Reservoir Dam on the Canadian River. Inside the pilot facility, treatment equipment is being operated on a small scale under real conditions so the Authority's water treatment experts can determine the most efficient and cost-effective way to treat Ute Reservoir water before the full water treatment plant is built.

Eastern New Mexico depends on the Ogallala Aquifer for its municipal and agricultural water. Water levels in the aquifer have declined more than 100 feet in recent decades and continue to fall. The Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System will deliver up to 16,415 acre-feet of surface water per year through about 130 miles of pipeline, replacing a declining groundwater supply with a renewable one.

The Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority was created by the New Mexico Legislature in 2010 and works in partnership with the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission. Construction is underway, with completion scheduled for 2031.