Dear citizens and water customers of the Village of Capitan:
The Mayor is out of town this week, and he asked me to write about
the Bonito water line issue for this month's Mayor's report.
Background
The railroad originally owned Bonito Lake, Eagle Creek and miles
of water lines running from Eagle Creek (which runs along Ski Run Road)
to Bonito Lake, down through Nogal and Carrizozo, and on to Vaughn. As
the railroad broke up, Alamogordo acquired Bonito Lake and the water lines
running to Nogal, through Carrizozo, and on to Alamogordo. Ruidoso and Capitan
obtained the Eagle Creek water rights, and water lines running from Eagle
Creek toward Bonito Lake.
Around 1957, Capitan wanted to receive water from Bonito Lake,
in conjunction with our Eagle Creek rights. The City of Alamogordo transported
our water for us for four miles along their pipeline to the point where
Cora Dutton Road meets Highway 37 (between Bonito Lake and Nogal). We
asked the property owners for easements to build a pipeline starting from
that intersection and coming back toward Capitan, to a treatment plant just
outside the southwest comer of town, near the east end of Cora Dutton Road.
The owners along that line all granted 20 foot wide easements for One Dollar
and a water tap, to be furnished and installed by the Village. Since they
were upstream from the treatment plant, the water was raw water, and the
owners agreed to accept that and to pay the going rate for treated water
outside of the Village limits. The seven-mile pipeline line was built out
of asbestos-cement pipe, because in 1957 no one knew about the dangers of
asbestos.
The water we received from Bonito Lake was periodically turbid
and undrinkable. That fact, along with an arbitrated
dispute with the City of Alamogordo in the 1980s, and an aborted
effort by Eagle Creek to build another pipeline, led to
Capitan drilling the wells east of town and no longer supplying
the municipal water from Bonito Lake. We entered into
a contract to actually purchase some raw water for a nominal sum
from Alamogordo to keep the Bonito water line and
old treat ment plant wet and functional. We sold that water to
the property owners for the past 15 years at one and one-
half times the normal Village rate, and made 100+ % profit on the
sales.
The Moratorium
In 1994, the Village was providing water from its wells, relying
upon 264 acre feet of groundwater rights associated with those wells.
Without receiving water from Bonito Lake, we did not have access to our
Eagle Creek water rights. Although our wells produce sufficient water,
264 acre-feet of water rights was not enough to supply the Village, and
the State Engineer's office told us we were pumping more water than our
rights allowed. At that time, the Water Advisory Board recommmended a moratorium
on new extraterritorial connections and on annexations of new property
into the Village. The Board of Trustees adopted the moratorium, which
remains in place today.
However, in 1998, Capitan sued the Village of Ruidoso and the two
Villages agreed to dissolve the Eagle Creek Water Association. Capitan
received 838 acre-feet of groundwater rights, which were transferred from
Eagle Creek to our wells, giving us a total of 1103 acre-feet of water rights.
In 1998, we also had a 40 Year Water Plan prepared for filing with the
State Engineer's office. It predicted that, given the current size of
the Village, we would need 706 acre-feet at "full build-out", when every
lot in the Village is developed.
Since passing the moratorium in 1994, the Village has still granted
a number of extra-territorial water taps. The former board gave Mr. Don
Brewer two more taps on the Bonito line in exchange for an easement for
the new 10" water line. It also entered into an agreement for an easement
for the site for the newest water tank, paying $ 10,000.00 and granting
an extra-territorial water tap to the owner.
The Current Problem
Earlier this year, the City of Alamogordo, acting on the advice
of the State Engineer's office, told us that they would no longer sell
us raw untreated water from Bonito Lake. Currently, Alamogordo has stated
they will. cut the water off on September 30,2002, having already extended
the deadline a couple of times. With the current condition of our water system,
we have the mechanical means to add a pump on the east end of the Bonito
Water line, and pump treated Village water back through the line. The much-talked-about
pump will, cost about $6,000.00, plus the monthly electricity to run it.
Trustees Whitaker, Montes and Tippin have refused to order the pump. Since
the pump manufacturer needs at least 30 days to build and ship the pump,
we are essentially out of time. The property owners along the Bonito Line
have hired attorney Gary Mitchell. to represent them. Mr. Mitchell. sent
the Village a letter demanding that we either honor the casement agreements
by providing the owners with water, or that we terminate the easement agreements
and remove our asbestos pipeline, The first option costs $6,000.00 plus
electricity. The second option will cost more in the neighborhood of $ $1,500,000.00,
plus legal fees and whatever other damages the Court might award to the
owners. We have already spent a couple of thousand dollars in attorney's
fees on this issue, and, whether we win or lose, we will. waste thousands
more in legal fees unless we take care of this quickly.
The Side Effects
Unfortunately, this issue reaches farther than just whether or not
to supply water to the owners along the Bonito Line. In February, the Village
received a $360,000.00 grant from the State for storm drainage improvements
in the downtown core area. Right now, heavy rains run from the school
parking lot and the hills to the west of the school, down Highway 380
and 4th Street, until they overflow the storm drain at 4th and Lincoln,
and flood properties on Bonito street. For the past several years, Stan
and Jan Cox have had water come into their house from the storm drain
during the summer rains. This drainage project would take the rain water
when it reaches Nagal Street, and drop it into the Salado and Magado Creeks
on each side of the core. However, we need. an easement from Mr. Brewer
to complete the drain to Magado Creek. Mr. Brewer feels that if the Village
will not honor its previous easement agreement with him for water taps,
then he has no reason to enter into a new easement agreement with us. If
we don't resolve this issue in the next ten days or so, we will have to
return the grant money to the State and abandon the drainage project.
Some think that if we give water to the Bonito Line owners,we will.
be obligated to provide extra-territorial water to anyone who wants it.
I respectfully disagree, and I don't think the law requires it or supports
that notion. However, the previous Board did violate the moratorium to
make deals for easements. If anything nullifies the moratorium and opens
the Village up to extra-territorial water taps, I believe it will be those
violations of the moratorium.
Last, as I sit on the Capitan-Carrizozo Natural Gas Board, I can
see where endless lawsuits and a small customer base have led us in the
past ten years. I honestly believe that if we don't start watching the
financial bottom line on our water system, our water rates will soon be
as exorbitant as our natural gas rates.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Bobbi Shearer
Trustee
legaieze@zianet.com
