{"id":32321,"date":"2023-08-14T17:47:57","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T23:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/water-officials-in-rural-and-tribal-n-m-communities-unaware-of-free-federal-water-aid\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T23:47:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T23:47:57","slug":"water-officials-in-rural-and-tribal-n-m-communities-unaware-of-free-federal-water-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/water-officials-in-rural-and-tribal-n-m-communities-unaware-of-free-federal-water-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"Water officials in rural and tribal N.M. communities unaware of free federal water aid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Storrie
Storrie Lake in Las Vegas, NM. Pictured in May 2022, as the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire burns in the distance. (Patrick Lohmann\/Source NM)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Communities in New Mexico have an opportunity to get free help from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to figure out what water problems they face, and apply for federal funds to solve them.<\/p>\n

Not everyone knows about this program, including officials leading recovery efforts in areas that have seen intense fires and floods over the past years.<\/p>\n

The goal of the Water Technical Assistance program is to address drinking water, wastewater and stormwater challenges, EPA officials said at a virtual meeting in late July.<\/p>\n

Services in the program include work to expand water systems\u2019 capacity, help putting together applications for federal grants and loans, and identifying contaminants like lead in water pipes.<\/p>\n

Local governments, tribes, water utility systems and non-governmental organizations can ask for the help.<\/p>\n

Three communities in New Mexico so far have requested the water assistance \u2014 Ojo Caliente, Taos and Mosquero, said EPA spokesperson Joe Robledo.<\/p>\n

\n

How to request help<\/h4>\n

A full list of programs and services can be found here. More general information can be found on this page. People interested in getting the technical water assistance can fill out this online form to request aid. Questions about eligibility can be emailed to WaterTA@epa.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Following a massive disaster season last year and dozens of fires active now, Robledo said one of the goals of the 2022 federal infrastructure act \u2014 which funded the program and helped boost its presence last year \u2014 is to help communities adapt to climate challenges, like those New Mexico is currently facing.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnical assistance will help underserved communities improve sustainability and resilience in their infrastructure to adapt to these challenges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some disaster-affected communities were unaware of the program\u2019s existence when Source NM reached out.<\/p>\n

Maria Gilvarry is the utilities director for Las Vegas, N.M., a city still struggling with post-wildfire debris and sediment impacting water quality. Work is ongoing with federal funds to revamp the city\u2019s old water treatment system, but that\u2019ll take at least five years to get done.<\/p>\n

City officials, including Gilvarry, told lawmakers in July that they need to modernize their technology sooner than that to keep delivering healthy water for residents\u2019 use.<\/p>\n

Gilvarry told Source NM she hadn\u2019t specifically heard of this EPA technical water assistance program, but it could be something to look into.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny funding support would be beneficial,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the utility sometimes has capacity issues applying to federal grants, something not uncommon for smaller water systems that often operate with fewer staff members. That\u2019s one of the areas this federal program aims to help with.<\/p>\n

Something the grant likely couldn\u2019t fix is the need for more water facility operators, which Gilvarry said the city has issues with. She said there\u2019s also a lack of contractors to do the repairs or upgrades that are needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always need more work, more repairs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Todd Loretto is the public works director for Jemez Pueblo. Like Gilvarry, he said he hasn\u2019t heard of this federal program but would be interested in applying.<\/p>\n

In April, wastewater flooded the Jemez River. Loretto said Jemez Pueblo didn\u2019t sustain too much damage from that incident, but it did impact sewage systems. He said wastewater is still a concern, and more federal funds would help.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Pueblo is open to explore other funding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said Jemez Pueblo could also use additional dollars to solve issues caused by climate change and drought. For example, Loretto said, the Pueblo could build reservoirs or improve well performance.<\/p>\n

Phil King is the consultant to the Elephant Butte Irrigation District. He said he\u2019s heard of the program but hasn\u2019t really looked into it.<\/p>\n

While serving on the New Mexico Water Task Force, King said the organization talked about how this EPA program could serve as a resource for smaller water systems that need help boosting their planning abilities.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what King said he\u2019s working on in Elephant Butte. He said it\u2019s helpful to take time and figure out what needs to be prioritized, something in this program\u2019s scope.<\/p>\n

Like Las Vegas and Jemez Pueblo, Elephant Butte has a relatively small water system. The officials in charge are already at capacity working on several grants, he said.<\/p>\n

King said a lot is falling through the cracks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stuff that we\u2019re doing in kind of a mad rush right now because there\u2019s so much funding available,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

King said if Elephant Butte finds the time and decides to ask for the federal water help, officials who are often wearing multiple hats would have to divvy up the work to actually get the request in.<\/p>\n

Additional outreach<\/div>\n

There are ongoing efforts to get more people aware of the water aid.<\/p>\n

Robledo said the University of New Mexico Southwest Environmental Finance Center got a water-related grant from the EPA and \u201cjust started working\u201d with environmental agencies in New Mexico and other states to figure out what communities need the technical water assistance.<\/p>\n

Sheyda Esnaashari, EPA technical assistance specialist, said at the virtual July meeting that the federal agency has been ramping up technical assistance work since 2022, pulling from the $50 billion in water funds made available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.<\/p>\n

She said the EPA is working with providers who have expertise in challenges unique to rural and tribal communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo many communities in the United States are living without the basics, including safe and reliable water services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

technical assistance in identifying system challenges, applying for grants and loans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,138,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-32321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-new-mexico","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32321"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=32321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}