February 22, 2006

McKinley County Commissioners Chambers

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Paulene McCabe Manuelito Chapter

Michael Daly White Cliffs MDWUA

Loline Hathaway Yah-ta-hey Water & Sanitation District

Rhonda Berg Rehoboth-Red Mesa Foundation

Andres Cheama Pueblo of Zuni

facilitators/staff:

Evan Williams Northwest NM Council of Governments

Larry Winn McKinley County Soil & Water Conservation District

GUESTS

Bill Bright Youth Water Day Festival

Elizabeth Barriga City of Gallup Conservation Officer

I. OPENING & INTRODUCTIONS. Board facilitator Larry Winn opened the meeting at 10:07 AM.

II. CDBG Planning Grant Update.

Evan Williams asked if this report had been approved by the clients: Mike Daly and Loline Hathaway. Mike Daly agreed that the plan had been completed to his satisfaction, and Evan Williams said then this project will be closed out. With the close-out of this project, another CDBG planning grant could be applied for by the County, on behalf of, a water association.

III. Water Legislative Update.

Evan Williams gave a brief update on the 2006 Legislative Session, which had just concluded. He announced that McKinley County Water and Wastewater projects did extremely well, including:

· White Cliffs Wastewater: $450,000

· Ya-tah-hey WSD Water: $100,000

· Gamerco WSD Water: $70,000

· Williams Acres WSD WW: $225,000

· Thoreau WSD WW: $50,000

· Regional Water Planning: $30,000

Along with a myriad of Navajo Chapters and Pueblo of Zuni water and wastewater projects. He continued to describe the funding of the Water Trust Fund at $40 million, which was passed in House Bill2. He also discussed that the “word on the street” was that the Governor was going to cut $75 million that was appropriated to Water Rights Settlements, which would hurt the Navajo Water Rights Settlement process.

IV. Educating County Residents on Water.

Based on the last meetings, conversation about the need to educate County residents on the “cost of water” and conservation 101, the Water Board invited the City of Gallup Conservation Specialist to discuss the City’s program and marketing that they have been very success with in the past year or more. Elizabeth Barriga, City Conservation Officer, provided information on the City rebate policies and other conservation initiatives that the City is spearheading through her office. She announced the Water Awareness Day is going to be held on May 2-3. Bill Bright, Member of the City Water Board, also attended to encourage participation for the members of the County Water Board. Elizabeth also mentioned that a “Project Wet” training is scheduled for March 25 as water awareness training for teachers. Project Wet is a program to teach children and young adults in school about water through a comprehensive curriculum. Contact Liz for registration at 863-1393/

Liz also made available many brochures and we agreed to try to set up an informational table on the first floor of the Courthouse. Liz will work with Evan to stock the table for the public to take.

V. Cibola Water Rights Purchase.

Mike Daly has drafted a letter for Doug Decker’s signature following on the Cibola Water Rights purchase with the State Engineers’ Office.

VI. Little Colorado River Watershed Coordinating Council Update.

Larry Winn discussed his involvement in the Little Colorado River Watershed Coordinating Council and how the Water Board can partner with this regional group that deals with riparian restoration of the Little Colorado River Watershed. He also mentioned that the Rio Puerco Restoration project ties into this initiative, and is our piece in McKinley County. The Water Board agreed to support Larry Winn’s participation and to be a partner of the Council. Furthermore, the Water Board agreed to recommend to the County Commission that the County should sign the proposed Partnership Agreement as a letter of support for this interstate, inter-jurisdictional, natural resource cooperation.

VII. OTHER ISSUES & ANNOUNCEMENTS

VIII. ADJOURNMENT: Rhonda Berg moved, and Mike Daly seconded to adjourn; the Board meeting adjourned at 12:07 PM. Next meeting will be at the McKinley County conference room at 10 AM on Wednesday March 15, 2006.

Respectfully submitted,

Evan Williams, Associate Planner

Northwest NM Council of Governments