01-Jan-2012
New Mexico First Will Facilitate a Town Hall on the Gila River Basin

The upcoming town hall on the Gila River Basin will help communities understand and offer feedback on options associated with the Arizona Water Settlement Act of 2004. The AWSA potentially allows New Mexico to access more water from the Gila system than it currently takes. The act also makes available significant federal dollars to fund projects that meet water supply demands in Grant, Luna, Hidalgo, and Catron counties. 

There are 21 potential water projects under consideration. The town hall will collect public input, gathering people’s likes, dislikes, and questions about each proposal. The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission will make the final decision. The ISC decision will also be informed by a ranked evaluation of the proposals. The ranking will be done by a group of experts (the “Tier 2 Review Panel”), and those rankings will be released about two weeks before the town hall.

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