U.S. Water News Online
SANTA FE, N.M. -- The Santa Fe County Commission has voted not to extend county water service to a proposed subdivision near La Cienega.
Residents of La Cienega have objected to the planned 1,316-acre, 512-home subdivision over worries about how much water is available.
A land use attorney representing the proposed Santa Fe Canyon Ranch development told commissioners if they don't add the development to the county water system, the developers will apply to the state engineer's office to drill new wells.
"This is not a question of whether or not La Cienega residents should or should not get water," attorney Rosanna Vazquez said. "Nor is this a question of whether or not this development will go forward -- because this development is going to go forward. It will go forward either on wells ... or it will go forward on the county utility system."
But Carl Pickens of the La Cienega Valley Association asked how the commission could extend county water to the subdivision when commissioners recently refused to extend the system to existing La Cienega houses.
La Cienega resident J.J. Gonzales said the county water system has been "developer-driven" and that it's time for the county to take control. Another resident, Ray Romero, said continued growth is drying up the area's natural springs.
The only La Cienega resident to speak for the extension was former County Commissioner Linda Grill, who said giving the proposed development county water will keep it from using up water in the aquifer.
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