Aamodt Update by Representative Trujillo

Dear Neighbor,

It has been a while since the last series of town hall meetings I hosted on the Aamodt Settlement Agreement. This letter is a brief update of where the process is currently. The Federal Court has been asked by the Pueblo’s and Federal Government to enter the Settlement into final decree by the end of July 2017, even though the Settlement Agreement has a final date to be entered into final decree of September 15, 2017. The argument made is it will take a few months to get printed and entered into the Federal Registry.

The election notices have still not been generated by the Settling Parties (The Settling Parties are: Pojoaque Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Nambe Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, Santa Fe County, City of Santa Fe, State of NM (State Engineers Office), and the US Government). They are now anticipating they will be mailed out sometime in the fall of 2017. Please stay tuned and I will have some town hall meetings when that time approaches so I can help explain what all the options mean to this complicated Settlement Agreement as the new election notice will probably have more options than the first one.

The Rules and Regulations are still being worked on by the Settling Parties. These Rules and Regulations will have the same authority as law and lay out the rules of how water will be administered in the basin. The public will have a chance to comment as part of the process during promulgation of these Rules and Regulations. It is also required that these Rules and Regulations be completed before the Federal Judge can enter Settlement into final decree. So I anticipate this will be real soon.

Just recently, the Santa Fe County Board of County Commissions re-solidified a previous resolution that they would not issue any construction funding support for the Regional Water System until rights-of-way issues are resolved with county roads within Pueblo boundaries.

The Legislature did not authorize any funds this past Legislative session for the State’s share of the Aamodt Settlement Agreement.

The NPT Basin pertains to all water wells in the Pojoaque, Nambe, El Rancho, Jacona, Jaconita, Tesuque, Rio en Medio, Chupadero, Bishop’s Lodge, and parts of Tano Road.

HELP SPREAD THE WORD: My hope is to reach as many people as possible, unfortunately, I only have so many email addresses. So please feel free to forward to any friends, family, or neighbors.

Sincerely,
Carl Trujillo
State Representative 46