Funding OK’d for Los Padillas drinking water

Residents in the South Valley’s Los Padillas neighborhood could soon have clean drinking water.

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority recently authorized funding to complete a drinking water project in that neighborhood, as well as make water service available to a planned Route 66 Visitor Center on the West Side.

Sponsored by Albuquerque City Councilor Klarissa Peña and Bernalillo County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada, who serve on the water authority’s governing board, the amendments were incorporated into the water authority’s fiscal 2019 capital budget. The board approved the budget at its May 23 meeting.

“With no state money available for the Los Padillas water project, this injection of funds — almost $2.6 million — from the Water Authority makes completion possible,” Peña said in a statement.

“And by deferring the $1.5 million in up-front costs for connecting the visitor center to the water system, the utility is allowing the city and county to free up funds to spend on actual construction.”

Construction of the visitor center, a joint city/county project that would celebrate Route 66, is dependent on voter approval of bond funding, with construction tentatively scheduled to begin late next year. Plans include a museum, event space and taproom.

The first phase of the Los Padillas project started in October 2017 with county and water authority funding and is near completion.

“This project is bringing clean, reliable municipal water service to a neighborhood where shallow domestic wells can be easily polluted and where fire protection is always an issue,” Quezada said in a statement.

COMMITTEE POSITION OPENING:

The deadline is end-of-business Friday for water authority customers interested in applying for a vacant position on the Technical Customer Advisory Committee.

Applicants must be water authority customers and have professional and technical competence in one or more of the following areas: water resource planning, water system engineering or construction, environmental, nonprofit water management advocacy/education, planning, landscape architecture, financial or business management, resource economics or customer service.

The nine-member group of volunteers meets from 4 to 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. Volunteers are asked to serve a two-year term and must undergo a background check.

Appointments must be approved by the water authority’s governing board.

To apply and upload a résumé, visit www.abcwua.org/cac-membershipapplication.aspx.