Aamodt report: Regional water system would require 1,200 homes to shut down wells

As many Vista Redonda residents do not subscribe to the New Mexican or live elsewhere much of the time, you may have missed this update on the Aamodt settlement.

     More than 1,200 nonpueblo residents of the Pojoaque Valley would have to agree to give up their private wells and hook into a proposed regional water system to make the project financially viable, according to a report presented to county commissioners on Tuesday.
     The regional water system is part of the settlement of the decades-long Aamodt water-rights litigation in the Pojoaque River Basin involving four pueblos as well as local, state and federal governments. The settlement is supposed to protect the water supplies and water rights of both pueblo and nonpueblo residents.
     The regional system would take water from the Rio Grande and deliver it throughout the valley. Officials say the system ensures drinking water supplies. Some residents continue to oppose the regional system, saying it is unnecessary and will cost the county too much money.
     The regional system would serve the pueblos of San Ildefonso, Pojoaque and Nambé and a portion of Tesuque. It also would serve many villages within the basin, such as Cuyamungue, El Rancho, Nambé and Tesuque. Read more here.