Repair dams before, not after, a catastrophe

Some 200 dams in New Mexico are rated to be in poor condition, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They are a disaster waiting to happen.

Crumbling infrastructure is avoidable, though, and legislators, the governor and our congressional delegation must do their utmost to lessen the danger. Find state and federal dollars dedicated to infrastructure projects and fix the dams.

This could save lives, as more than 170 of the 500 dams in the state have potential to cause “loss of life” upon failure, the New Mexico Finance Authority Oversight Committee was told last week.

Without funding and resources, the Office of the State Engineer’s Charles Thompson told legislators the problem could “turn into a catastrophe.” Thompson, chief of the Dam Safety Bureau, said the dams can be cleaned, updated and made safe. But the cost is expensive, at least $300 million.

While that’s not cheap, the solution is obvious if we have the determination. Rate the dangers, plan repairs by order of need and start allocating money.

The work can’t all be done at once, so start with the most dangerous dams on public property. At the same time, meet with private property owners who also have dams that need repair. They will need help fixing dams, and state government — perhaps with the Office of the State Engineer taking the lead in establishing priorities — can develop funding sources to make that possible, whether through grants or low-interest loans.

The money will have to come from a variety of sources, so part of the planning process will be figuring out where to find the millions — and just as essential, how to spend it wisely.

Consider that we learned this week that some $1.4 billion of $1.9 billion allocated for capital projects remains unspent. Lawmakers are asking for legislation to allow those funds to be reallocated if local governments can’t spend the money in a timely fashion; it seems to us that taking a good chunk of the capital outlay money to prevent dams from breaking would be a good investment.

Money is available if lawmakers decide to spend it.

Leaders in the House and Senate need to identify point people to make fixing dams a priority. In Santa Fe, where both Nichols and McClure dams overlooking the city have been classified as in “poor” condition, the city has a plan in place.

City Water Division Director Jesse Roach said the city plans to empty the reservoir and spend $10 million shoring up Nichols; then in a few years, do the same thing with the larger McClure Reservoir.

At present, the engineer’s office isn’t asking for money for dam projects — the presentation to lawmakers was to provide information. It seems clear that if dams are in “poor” condition and are being described as “ticking time bombs,” state leaders should make an effort to find money and start repairs.

Not only is $1.4 billion sitting around unspent, the state learned its financial outlook is better than expected. The state is now projecting revenues of some $7.4 billion, well above the $6.2 billion or so forecast just six months ago. That’s no reason for lawmakers to go on a spending spree, but it does seem that in that extra billion and change, there might be money to spend fixing dams before, not after, a breach.

New Mexico has a problem and we can fix it. All that remains is to allocate money and avoid a nightmare.