U.S. Water News Online
SANTA FE -- Santa Fe County commissioners have approved a plan for a subdivision expansion that limits the amount of water each future home may use.
Under the deal, people who will live in Rancho Viejo's Windmill Ridge III subdivision will be expected to limit annual potable water use to about 65,170 gallons. The first several hundred houses built in the development were based on about 81,463 gallons per year.
Rancho Viejo initially proposed each house be allowed even less water, saying people who live in the development consistently use fewer gallons than expected. County employees suggested the higher amount as a safeguard.
Rancho Viejo submitted three years of meter readings showing residents use less than the newly approved amount.
The developer will be required to apply to the state engineer to transfer Rancho Viejo's water rights to the county utility system to account for any difference between actual use and the allotment. If homes use more water, the county would be able to pump the same amount of water to replenish the system.
The state engineer must approve the transfer of the backup water rights for the deal to go through.
The County Commission will review details of the backup plan within 18 months, and the developer will have to submit periodic water use information.
Cooperation with Rancho Viejo means the commission can assert more control over water use in the area it has designated for growth, said Liza Vitale, who coordinates the county's water conservation.
``We were able to work with a really big developer to make sure the development was sustainable,'' she said.
Other area developers who want to base water budgets on lesser amounts must prove residents will maintain that level, she said.
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