By Hallie Richwine

The Grant County Water Commission met December 17, 2018 to discuss plans to move forward. The first order of business was the nomination of Alex Brown for Chairperson and Richard Bauch for Vice Chairperson. Nominations closed with no objections.

The commission then took time to address general input. The main topic of conversation was the wastewater treatment plant in Bayard. The drying beds are not adequate for the volume of wastewater produced. The first dryer is insufficient.

“They want to change to a different extraction system like in Show Low (AZ),” said Bauch. He said they compress their sludge for maximum water extraction.

Gabriel Ramos said he wished a representative from Bayard attended to clarify the difficulties at the wastewater plant. Without knowing the extent of the problem, it will be hard to determine which funding sources to pursue.

Bauch said his concern was that the mining district would have to fund this somehow. “The increase in fees has already caused complaints,” he continued.

Priscilla Lucero said she was surprised the topic was not brought up earlier so it could go through the prospectors’ process.

With many loose ends, the Grant County Water Commission looks toward 2019 to clarify who they are, what they need to do, and where to go for help.

“The proposal moving forward is to have a workshop. I’d like to have a workshop with all the members of the local bodies to outline the process moving forward because there have been concerns and questions. Primarily, who would vote, how the entity is going to be structured, and who is going to have representation. We don’t have those answers. We haven’t had those conversations yet,” Olga Morales said. “We can’t put together an agreement if we don’t know what we’re agreeing to. We need to set the boundaries of what this new entity would look like.”

“I have some serious concerns about how it would be implemented, and we have to have it figured out before we apply for anything,” Bauch said.

“My biggest concern is that if we don’t do it now and we wait five, ten, or fifteen years from now we might not be able to afford it by then, because the prices of things go up naturally,” said Ramos.

Morales reiterated that the time is now, to set up the project for the future and to have conversations about the concerns each municipality has.

The next meeting will take place February 4, 2019 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., location TBA, with a potential quorum, because of the ongoing legislative session.