Utility officials are celebrating as the San Juan-Chama Project has been in operation for 10 years now.
Once thought of as a boondoggle, the project has delivered nearly 137 billion gallons of purified water to Albuquerque and has helped to spur a significant recovery of the aquifer beneath the city.
The project also serves other communities and farmers along the Rio Grande through a system of diversion dams, tunnels and other infrastructure.
Officials say the project has provided a much needed hedge against the demands of a growing population and predictions of drier times.