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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Editorial: Water Must Come At the Right Price

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    If you are going to dream, you might as well dream big.
    EMW Gas Association is taking steps to create a regional water system that would cover 1,119 square miles of the Estancia Valley and the East Mountains.
    The $135 million price tag may be a little difficult to come up with, though.
    Wilson & Co. Engineering is putting the finishing touches on an engineering report that would allow EMW to start looking for federal funding. However, the engineers warn that EMW may want to reduce the project coverage area. Creating a water system for the McIntosh area, they say, would cost around $10 million.
    Delivering water to some of the remote communities in the area is admirable, especially when many smaller local systems are having difficulty serving their customers. Small system and individual wells have been drying up and regional water authority seems like a good idea.
    Before committing to such a scheme, though, EMW needs to let potential customers know what their cost might be. The association already charges high fees to connect customers to its natural gas service because of rural nature of the area, leaving many with no choice but to buy propane.
    EMW may find itself with a nice pipeline system and no one able to afford its services.