New Mexico Acequia Commission –Santa Fe, NM Meeting Draft Minutes – subject to approval July 22, 2016

C all to Order Chairman Vigil called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m.

Present Commission members in attendance were Ralph Vigil, Juan Sanchez, Narciso Quintana, Joseph Padilla, Eric Stockton and Fred Vigil. A quorum was established.

Absent Commissioners Jackie Powell, Eric Romero, Mary Mascareñas and William Gonzales asked to be excused. Juan Archuleta was absent.

Staff Members and Guests Staff members and guests present were Anna Maria Gonzales, Serafina Lombardi, and Bob Wessely.

Approval of Agenda Motion to approve agenda was made by Commissioner Quintana, seconded by Commissioner Sanchez. Motion carries unanimously.

Approval of Minutes Motion to approve May minutes as presented was made by Commissioner Sanchez, seconded by Commissioner Kenneth Stockton. Motion carries unanimously.

Finance Review and Budget Items Chairman Vigil noted that there is a new DFA cabinet secretary. Duffy Rodriguez was appointed by Governor Martinez in mid-July.

Sandra Ortega provided the paperwork for the only response for the Technical Consultant position. The only resume received was from Mr. Robert Apodaca. There were no applicants for the Technical Assistant position. The services of Anna Maria Gonzales as meeting recorder, and Janice Varela with her work that was added to the Technical Consultant contract under the scope of work last year, will both be contracted under the Technical Consultant. In the conversation with DFA legal, it was determined that Harry Montoya could provide contractual services if contracted by the Technical Consultant or Assistant contract holder. That wouldn’t be a conflict of interest, as he wouldn’t be directly working for the State/NM Acequia Commission.

After meeting with DFA, the budget needs to be amended to reflect the ceiling policy that states that the Technical Consultant amount needs to remain under 50,000. Otherwise, the services are to go out to bid. DFA will not provide the administrative services to do this.

Discussion concerning the action followed. Commissioner Fred Vigil stated his concern over changing actions approved at the May meeting as some commissioners involved in that decision are not present at today’s meeting.

A motion was made by Juan Sanchez to amend the previous amount approved at the May meeting for the Technical Consultant from $53,700 to $49,900, with the remaining $3,800 to be moved to the other contracts line item with the option to review and adjust the budget in six months. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Narciso Quintana. Chairman Vigil and Commissioners Sanchez, Quintana, Padilla and Stockton voted to approve the motion. Commissioner Vigil opposed the motion. Motion carries.

Chairman Vigil reviewed the work that Mr. Apodaca has done over the past year. Knowing his work, his attendance at meetings on behalf of the Commission and the doors that have opened

1 because of his connections, Chairman Vigil asked for a motion to retain Mr. Robert Apodaca as the recipient of the Technical Consultant.

Commissioner Joseph Padilla made a motion to retain Mr. Robert Apodaca as the recipient of the Technical Consultant. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Quintana. Motion carries unanimously.

Chairman Vigil reported that he is still working on details about the capital outlay funding with the ISC. The other members of the working committee, Commissioners Sanchez and Gonzales (out of the state until the end of August), along with a few other NMAC commissioners will meet again before the next NMAC meeting to provide an update and recommendation.

Chairman Vigil also noted that he would be contacting Senator Cisneros and Representative Salazar to ask them to have a meeting with the state engineer, including NMAC in the meeting request.

Discussion of Issues related to the Office of State Engineer Commissioner Padilla noted that Mr. Trujillo is the new city manager of Las Vegas, and he sends his regards. Discussion followed questioning whether the position of acequia liaison from the Office of the State Engineer will be replaced.

New Mexico Acequia Association Serafina Lombardi was present to give a thorough review of the 2016 fiscal year grant accomplishment according to the scope of work. Ms. Lombardi distributed a document with updates on the past month’s outreach training locations and topics, including those for the total cycle. Office assistance was provided to acequia 1,114 times and technical assistance to 474 acequias was given from July 1015 to June 2016. Bylaws were completed for 30 acequias in FY16. An overview was given of the Statewide Commissioner and Mayordomo Conference held in June of 2016

She noted that NMAC is doing work in the San Juan basin area where parciantes are called shareholders, and a whole different vocabulary is used for the same system.

Ms. Lombardi asked again for input on topics and ideas for newsletter content. She also noted that she will once again share with NMAC commissioners by email the survey that has been used to collect information from acequias. The use of this survey is once again included in the DFA contract. NMAA seeks input on the survey tool before it is used again. She also reminded NMAC commissioners to refer technical needs of acequias to NMAA as commissioners become aware of the needs.

Legislative Issues and Actions Chairman Vigil noted that as Mr. Apodaca’s contract is approved, the two will be engaged more in contacting legislators and having a presence in interim committee meetings, House Agriculture and Water and Natural Resources, as requested by Representative Ezell. The next meeting of the Water and Natural Resources Committee will be in Clovis on August 25 and in Tucumcari on August 26.

Committee, Staff, and Chairman’s Reports Chairman Vigil noted that he would work to engage more in the statutory charge of NMAC. As the contract work is approved and moves through the process, he will work more with Mr. Apodaca and Ms. Gonzales to work on the NMAC contact list to reach more folks that need to be at NMAC meetings and to build that attendance network.

Ms. Gonzales asked if it might be necessary to contact Mr. Archuleta for a letter of resignation. Chairman Vigil noted that even if commissioners appointments have expired or lapsed, commissioners must serve at the will of the Governor until notified otherwise.

2 Chairman Vigil reported that he is no longer a member of the Water Trust Board and will keep others posted when a new acequia representative has been appointed.

3 Public Comment Mr. Bob Wessely reported that there is a new mayor in Las Vegas and that negotiations with acequias are getting closer than ever to resolutions. He gave an overview of the situation to which Commissioner Padilla added the reality of the need for the city to drop the litigation and to recognize that there are historical emotions tied to the conversations that need to be honored and these are often brought to the table.

Mr. Wessely provided a document that outlines an impartial but practical solution to a water shortage sharing plan that would allow for longer river water use by the acequias if the condition of stored water was felt as secure by the City of Las Vegas. The later is contingent upon a loan needed to add water to Storrie Lake and by restoring Bradner Reservoir storage at current capacity.

Discussion followed, ending with Mr. Wesseley’s appeal for the presentation of the document to the acequias.

Commissioner Stockton gave a brief overview of the issue on the Gila River. He noted that instead of damming the water, the recourse is to leave the river free flowing with reservoirs being maintained along the river with two points of diversion that will return to the river and serve to recharge. This is favored rather than having two diversion on the other side of the Continental Divide.

A motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Quintana. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Sanchez. Motion carries unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 11:44 a.m.

Commissioners scheduled the next meeting for Friday, August 19 (the third Friday, rather than the fourth to accommodate attendance at the Water Resources Interim Committee meeting in Clovis) in Santa Fe, preferably in the Old Senate Chambers of the Bataan Memorial Building.

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