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Thursday, October 18, 2007

Editorial: EMW Will Keep Water in Family


    The proposal by EMW Gas Association to create a regional water pipeline serving the Estancia Valley makes sense on many levels.
    Perhaps the most attractive aspect of the plan, though, is its singular ability to keep local control over the operations of what would become a new water utility.
    That's a big deal in a region that has seen several proposals for water harvesting and exportation in recent years, all proffered by "outsiders." Vehement opposition has been mounted by local grass-roots groups to these perceived raids on the valley's precious water.
    Anyone who would consider taking Estancia Basin water elsewhere risks the wrath of those who depend on the vital resource for their livelihoods and lives.
    Much better to keep it in the family, as they say. And EMW Gas— which stands for Estancia, Moriarty and Willard, the towns that created the nonprofit natural gas supplier in the 1963— is family.
    Even putting aside the benefit of having the water utility operated by a local company with a local board of directors, the EMW plan has a compelling logic to it.
    EMW already has an extensive natural gas pipeline network crisscrossing the valley, which provides gas service to some 5,000 customers. Placing a new water pipeline along the same route would be an enormous benefit.
    No need to survey a completely new route or negotiate for rights of way with landowners. All the headaches, glitches and setbacks of such an undertaking were overcome back in the 1960s.
    Funding for the project is uncertain, but EMW officials are exploring USDA grants, loans and legislative appropriations. While getting financing is by no means guaranteed, somehow it just sounds better than a project backed by rich guys from Texas or Santa Fe, with their eyes not only on our water but our pocketbooks.
    And as a nonprofit, EMW doesn't have to make money on the deal. It's unlikely you would hear such a concept from the aforementioned deep pockets from east of here.
    John Jones, who as chief operating officer of Entranosa Water and Waste Water is considered by many to be something of a resident expert on all things water, agrees that, in general terms, the plan seems to be a good one.
    But he notes that it faces challenges in how the project evolves and how it is paid for. And he wisely notes that when it comes to our water, emotions can run high and get in the way of common sense.
    "Whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting," Jones says.
    If there's going to be fighting, it's probably best to keep that in the family, too.