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City official outlines how San Juan‑Chama return‑flow project could stretch local water supplies
Summary
Jesse Roach, a City of Santa Fe water utility staffer, told the Santa Fe County commissioners the city’s system uses four potable sources — river reservoirs, city wells, Buckman wells and the Buckman Direct Diversion — and that a San Juan‑Chama Return Flow Project now under design would allow San Juan‑Chama supplies to be used more efficiently by generating return‑flow credits.
Jesse Roach, a City of Santa Fe water utility staff member, told commissioners that the city’s drinking water system relies on four potable sources — the Santa Fe River and its reservoirs, city production wells, the Buckman well field and the Buckman Direct Diversion (BDD) — and a separate non‑potable reuse program that irrigates parks and golf courses.
Roach said the city shifted in 2011 to using surface water preferentially through the BDD and has seen groundwater levels recover: “we’ve seen the city wells have recovered 60 feet of that 150,” he said, adding that the Buckman wells have recovered roughly 510 feet in pressure losses since the shift. He told the board the change reduced total annual production from a 1995 peak of…
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