Spider Rock Road, Taos County detox projects slated for federal funding

More than $23.5M to fund community projects in 3rd Congressional District

The U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 23 passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes more than $23.5 million in Community Project Funding for New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District and $1.45 billion for people affected by the Calf Canyon–Hermits Peak Fire.

Teresa Leger Fernández, congresswoman for the 3rd district, helped pass the bill with specific funding for 15 community projects, two of which will directly impact the Taos County area, including $4 million for the planned Taos Pueblo Spider Rock Road Improvement Project and $3 million to help establish a detox center for Taos County.

Taos County has been without detox services since a nine-bed facility run by Tri-County Community Services on Weimer Road shut down in 2015. Efforts to reopen a new detox facility have been slow-going, however, and an RFP awarded to Rio Grande Alcoholism Treatment Center to spearhead reviving the service expired earlier this year.

A groundbreaking was held for the Taos Pueblo Spider Rock Road Improvement Project on Oct. 28. The project will establish four emergency housing areas, as well as mixed-use construction. In Tiwa, the project is being referred to as “New House.”

“We need to be able to provide housing to our people. It’s been a long time since we were able to do that, and this is the first step towards that,” Tribal Secretary Dwayne Lefthand said at the groundbreaking ceremony this fall.

Community project funding for the district will emphasize a range of other projects for New Mexico’s tribal communities, including $960,000 for One Generation Indigenous Farm Hub; $3 million for Navajo Nation’s Shiprock Home for Women and Children; $750,000 for New Mexico Highland University’s School of Social Work Center of Excellence and Native American Social Studies Institute; more than $2 million combined for water infrastructure improvement projects on Santa Clara and Santa Domingo pueblos; and $7 billion and $5.129 billion to fund the Indian

Health Service in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

In addition to the $1.45 billion allocated for victims of the Calf Canyon–Hermits Peak Fire, the largest wildfire in state history, the bill also appropriates $27 million for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program and $925 million for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.

“The funding bill we passed today is an investment in our future and in a more prosperous New Mexico. I was pleased to secure $23,552,000 in Community Project Funding in this bill that meets long overdue needs in our beautiful 3rd District,” Rep. Leger Fernández said. “These investments make us safer, offer care for those suffering from addiction, build affordable housing, improve our water resources, and strengthen our communities. From Chama to Curry County and Shiprock to Santa Fe, we are making sure no dime is left in Washington that can be put to good use in our communities.”