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Governor Bill Richardson of declared that 2007 would be the Year of Water. With that, he announced numerous daring initiatives for water conservation and clean supply, including river ecosystem restoration, water recycling, water source protection, pipeline projects, and the streamlining of government agencies. (See http://www.governor.state.nm.us/press/2006/oct/101106_02.pdf.)
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Won the 2006 World Leadership Award under the category of Utilities for its Sustainable Water Management Planning. The award was presented in . Also see http://www.world-leadership-awards.org/winners.vc?content_id=87 and http://www.cabq.gov/blogs/mayorhighlights/2006/12/albuquerque_wins_2006_world_le_1.html .)
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The New Mexico Environment Department (http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/ ) was established in 2005 to assure the safety of the state’s air supply, drinking water, food supply, and waste treatment and disposal.
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The state of has established a Clean Water State Revolving Fund to provide low-cost financing for wastewater and storm drainage water projects that protect surface and ground water (http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/cpb/cwsrf.html ).
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Clean water is a top-of-mind subject to citizens of New Mexico. The New Mexico Environmental Department has a Ground Water Quality Bureau (http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/gwb/gwqbhome.html ), a Surface Water Quality Bureau (http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/SWQB/ ), and a Drinking Water Bureau (http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/dwb/dwbtop.html ).
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Mayor Martin Chavez of has issued policy statements and initiatives on sustainability, addressing safe water, clean air, alternative energy and fuels, urban forestation, alternative transportation, “green” building, recycling, and global warming. (For full statements, see http://www.cabq.gov/sustainability, and for specifics about safe water, see http://www.cabq.gov/sustainability/green-goals/water/water .) Both the Sustainability Officer and the Water Conservation Officer of the City of would be available as resources for your conference.
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Water in the Albuquerque area is managed by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (http://www.abcwua.org/ ), a joint agency of the City of Albuquerque and the County of Bernalillo that administers the water and wastewater utility for all of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Conservation is a priority, and initiatives are being taken in water reclamation and recycling.
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The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority has 3 industrial water recycling projects in (http://www.abcwua.org/waterresources/strategycomponents.html ):
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In the northern part of the city, the North I-25 Water Recycling Project takes non-potable industrial wastewater and uses it to irrigate a large area that includes , and soccer fields.
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In the south, the Southside Water Recycling Project takes industrial water to irrigate the , golf courses, and other local sites).
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The Non-Potable Water Reclamation Project has been set up to recycle industrial water to irrigate areas of Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights and adjoining areas west up to the Rio Grande.
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is part of the huge San Juan-Chama Diversion Project, which channels water from the Colorado River through tunnels under the Continental Divide to the Protecting and preserving the aquifer is vital to this project. (See http://www.sjcdrinkingwater.org/ .)
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The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority is conducting a Recharge Demonstration Project in To implement the Authority’s existing policy on aquifer storage and recover;
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To use San Juan-Chama water to recharge the aquifer;
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To use the aquifer to store surplus San Juan-Chama water and establish a drought reserve; and
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To establish the right to recover the recharged groundwater.
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Individuals from industrial, municipal, institutional, and commercial sectors within have formed a non-profit group called the New Mexico Water Conservation Alliance, which meets regularly to exchange information and work collaboratively to promote healthy water supply and conservation throughout the state. (See http://wrri.nmsu.edu/wrdis/nmwca/alliance.html .) Members of this group would be an excellent resource for local leadership, sponsors, speakers, and hosts for technical tours for a conference in Sandia National Laboratories recently has joined a project with local Native American tribes to test a new solar electricity generating system that will be the power source for a water pump. (For more information, see http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2000/solar.htm.) Altela, Inc. is a manufacturing company located in Albuquerque, makers of the AltelaRainTM system. This system desalinates and decontaminates groundwater and industrial wastewater much more efficiently than previous technologies. There is a Long Term Ecological Project (LTEP) being studied at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in It is managed by the Department of Biology of the of The effects of climate change on the ecosystem is studied. (See http://sev.lternet.edu/ .)Conservation education starts young in ” is an annual festival conducted in both the Albuquerque and Rio Rancho areas to educate school children and teachers in the importance of conserving water and how they can be involved. (See http://www.waterfestnm.com/ .) also has an annual Children’s Water Festival. (See http://www.pioneerwest.net/sf06rpt.pdf .)The has a coalition of companies and individuals, committed to educating about sustainability and implementing sustainable practices, called Sustain Taos. (See http://www.sustaintaos.org/index.php .)The Albuquerque Journal regularly features articles on conservation and sustainability. The mood is right here to support a conference with this theme!