Santa Fe details water supply, San Juan Chama return‑flow plan and Nichols Dam rehab; officials flag rate increase

Interim Public Utilities Director Jesse Roach outlined the City of Santa Fe’s 2024 water-year results and near‑term projects on May 14, telling the City Council that the utility is using roughly 9,000 acre‑feet of water annually and is pursuing a return‑flow project and major dam‑outlet repairs that together will require new borrowing and likely rate adjustments.

Roach opened the presentation by tracing the city’s water portfolio and conservation success, saying the city’s total production has declined “by 33% even while population during that time has increased by 25%,” and noting the utility now serves about 90,000 people while per‑person use has fallen substantially. He said surface water now supplies the bulk of the city’s needs since the Buckman direct diversion (BDD) came online in February 2011 and that the utility is “using about 9,000 acre feet per year, about 7,000 of that from river water and the rest from wells.”

Roach described the San Juan‑Chama return‑flow project as a resilience measure that would send treated wastewater back to the river below the Buckman diversion, allowing the city to “stretch” its diversion allocation. He said the city has a state‑engineer permit for return‑flow credits, a 60% engineering design, Bureau of Reclamation grant funding and state grants/loans, and that the draft NEPA environmental assessment is expected in September. “We estimate about 12,000 acre feet currently of renewable water available to the utility of which we’re using about 9,000,” Roach said, and added the return‑flow project could raise sustainable surface‑water availability toward roughly 20,000 acre‑feet.

Roach also reviewed the Nichols Dam outlet works rehabilitation. He said the project replaces outlet conduit and installs a metering and filtered drain system, adds an aeration system to the reservoir and will permit new operational flexibility. Roach said work began last July and is expected to finish this fall; he called the project a “big safety concern” with an approximate $20 million price tag. He listed other major capital needs: Canyon Road upgrades (roughly $24 million plus $9 million in additional work), McClure upstream work (~$20 million), and a possible San Juan‑Chama return‑flow project cost that could reach as much as $60 million.

On finance, Roach said those capital projects and long‑term inflation since the last water rate increase in February 2013 make a rate increase likely. He presented a scenario that would raise an average water bill by roughly $2 per month for five years (water only) and said wastewater increases had separate timing and sizing. He also pointed council members to two public webinars (one morning, one evening) and the full annual water report at santafenm.gov/water.

Council members pressed on operational details and planning. Councilor Lee Garcia thanked staff for the historical charts and asked how growth will affect demand; Roach described long‑range planning through 2100, model runs and a tool called STEWARDS that compares supply scenarios with demand projections. Councilor Cassett asked why the Nichols rehab might let the city “turn off the Canyon Road water treatment plant in the winter”; Roach explained the operational flexibility tied to return flows and seasonal priorities of different sources.

Multiple councilors praised the conservation trend and urged clear public outreach before any rate changes. Roach and councilors emphasized the city will pursue grants and loans alongside rate revenue. The presentation concluded with questions about source‑protection work in the upper watershed and fuel‑reduction coordination with Santa Fe Fire and the Forest Stewards Guild.

The council did not take formal action on Roach’s presentation; staff will bring project procurement, bonding and rate proposals back to the Council for separate formal votes.

The city posted the report and webinar links on santafenm.gov/water and Roach said staff will follow with the draft NEPA and engineering milestones as they advance.