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Corrales water team says state will accept draft 40‑year plan, allows one‑time payback for 36 acre‑feet of over‑diversion
Summary
The village water team told the council the state engineer will accept a draft 40‑year water plan as part of a municipal combine‑and‑co‑mingle permit application and has agreed to a one‑time payback for about 36 acre‑feet of historically over‑diverted water; staff said the arrangement avoids a typical "double payback" penalty and clears the way for consolidated permitting and future rights acquisitions.
At its meeting, Corrales Village council heard that the state engineer is prepared to accept a draft 40‑year water plan to support a municipal "combine and co‑mingle" well permit that would consolidate most village well permits under a single municipal authorization. Mike Hammond, speaking for the village water team, told the council the team has calculated roughly 36 acre‑feet of historic over‑pumping and submitted a payback plan to the state engineer.
Why it matters: consolidating well permits and documenting long‑range use is a prerequisite for municipal permitting under state practice, and the village must demonstrate how long‑term demand will be met. Hammond said the state engineer agreed, in this instance, to accept a one‑time payback of the identified over‑diversion rather than invoking a typical double‑payback penalty, which staff described as a positive development for the village’s compliance pathway.
Hammond said the water team’s audit pulled together meter data and permit histories from the village’s public‑works metering system and from the various well permits. "We've determined that overping over that period of time is 36 acre feet," he told the council, explaining that the draft 40‑year plan and the payback package were provided to the state engineer as supporting material. Staff also said the village has transmission of recent meter data to the state engineer and that the draft plan will be submitted to justify the municipal permit application.
Councilors asked whether newly acquired water rights would be available for agricultural users as well as municipal service. Hammond and other staff said that decision would be part of local policy and ordinance choices. "If the village chooses to move forward with acquiring additional water rights for multiple purposes, including agricultural support, that certainly can be done," Hammond said, adding that the draft plan will identify proposed purposes and mechanisms such as leases or a village water bank.
Staff noted that the village currently estimates an annual gap of roughly 15 acre‑feet under present use, depending on irrigation for recreational fields and other variable demands, and that the village holds a temporary lease arrangement with another jurisdiction that is good through 2030. Council members and staff agreed next steps include public review of the draft 40‑year plan, formal adoption by the governing body and preparing the municipal permit application expected to take several months to finalize.
The council did not take a final vote on water policy at the meeting; staff said the draft plan will be posted and public comment sought before any formal adoption or ordinance action by the council.
