[Editor's Note: This is part 2 of the workshop held with three state agencies, mostly virtually on Wed., Feb. 22, 2023. This author attended the morning sessions, but not the afternoon ones.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The second portion of the workshop began with the director of the New Mexico Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Debbie Hughes.

"We've been working with Dusty Hunt of the Grant County Soil and Water Conservation District," Hughes said. "We're waiting on the agreement between the ISC (Interstate Stream Commission) and our agency to work with other districts, too. If an estimate comes in under $60,000, the ditch can get a quote and get to work. If it's more, they must go out for bid. We're here to help."

Destre Shelley, one of the organizers of the Gila Valley Flood Task Force, said: "I want to see if you can give us clarification on the funds. Can we use the funding as reimbursements if we have already done some of the work?"

Jonathan Martinez, ISC acequia manager, who was also on the Zoom call, said he was not 100 percent sure. "Typically, the funding is for work that is not yet done."

Shelley also asked about the process for utilizing the funds. "Will we get the funds or who does the procurement process for the funding?"

Hughes said the soil and water conservation district are required to have someone with procurement qualifications. "Then you pay the local contractor that does the work. You don't have to do a 1099. It will be the company that we will send the 1099 to."

Shelley asked a clarifying question. "So, after the work is begun, we would be watching to make sure the work is done correctly and the SWD would do the rest?"

"Yes, it will be a team effort of the soil and water conservation districts and the acequia," Hughes confirmed.

"Is there any other stipulation to the funding?" Shelley asked.

Hughes replied that her agency is in discussion to get the ditches back to functioning. "The ISC doesn't want to put in a lot of structures."

Martinez said: "We want to get you up and running for the season, but not add a lot of infrastructure that might just get washed out by the next flood. Our goal is the keep the ditches up and running."

"We have some funding from the county," Shelley said. "We are trying to decide which way to go. When will the funds through the soil and water conservations districts come through?

Martinez said the ISC and the state soil and water conservation district have an agreement in process. "Our goal is ASAP, but it could take a week or months. Then the ball will get thrown back to the local soil and water conservation district to get the money rolling out."

Shelley asked when the agencies would let the ditches know when the funds are ready to roll.

"When the intergovernmental agreement is complete, the funding will be ready to roll," Martinez said.

Hughes echoed that: "As soon as we get the agreement."

Johnny Reed, who lives on a Mimbres acequia, asked: "The discussion has been on getting water in the ditches, but what if the bank was washed away?"

Martinez said: "What you can do will be a band-aid, but yes, the funding can be used to shore it up."

Grant County Manager Charlene Webb asked about the NRCS (National Resources Conservations Service) emergency program. "The county submitted an application. Can your funding be a match?"

Hughes replied: "Your match can be public meetings and in kind work, but my experience is the NRCS money is really slow."

Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments Executive Director Priscilla Lucero said she had heard the mention of a certified procurement officer. "I am a certified procurement officer, as are three members in my office. The county also has a certified procurement officer. Reach out to us" she said to the ditch owners, "to make sure you are following the procurement process correctly."

Webb said: "We can use county emergency disaster funding, as long as it is document, we can help. Randy Hernandez is our certified procurement officer."

"We can take you by the hand if you need it," Lucero said.

Hughes noted that no money can be used for administration. "The funding must go into the ground."

Matthew Smith, who facilitated the sessions, asked: "The funding coming through the soil and water conservation districts, which comes from the ISC, can it be used for mitigation features on the diversions and acequias?"

"We would be open to listening," Martinez said. "What kind of mitigation? I would like further detail."

Smith also asked another question: "The contractors that are being used, do they have to be licensed and bonded and/or registered at the state level?"

"I think you just have to make sure that you are compliant with procurement," Martinez replied. "At a minimum, be compliant with state procurement."

At this point, the representatives from the New Mexico Department of Transportation had arrived.

John Romero, representing NMDOT, said he had been in contact on debris removal from the ditches. "We have funding squared away through New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. We will start mobilizing on Friday, and removal work will begin on Monday. It will take six-to-eight weeks to complete the work. We will work with the acequias to coordinate the work."

Anthony Gutierrez, water consultant, asked if they had a concrete cost estimate. "We're trying to figure out how much more we will need. We need a good description of what the DOT will do, including a scope of work and locations."

Romero said the DOT would be doing no repair, except where a levee blew out, for instance: "We will build it back up using the material we pull out of the ditches."

Smith clarified that the DOT was looking at debris removal. "In gray areas, if they can take the debris and sediment out and put it back onto the bank, they can get away with it and get reimbursed."

Webb asked what ditches would be treated by the DOT.

Jon Paul (JP) Romero (not a relative of John Romero of DOT), contractor with Cordova Contracting and Development, said they would be treating six ditches in the Mimbres and three in the Gila Valley.

Lucero suggested the DOT and contractor use one point of contact, and perhaps it should be County Emergency Manager Justin Gojkovich, "so we all know where you are working, and you can send information on what ditches you are working on. There have been a lot of miscommunications. We want to make sure everyone has the same information."

An unidentified man said: "Our irrigation ditch has to be rebuilt. Otherwise, it is liable to get into the floodplain and change the course of the river into our fields."

Romero said the DOT would not be able to do that. "You would have to rebuild it. What we are talking about today is funding from the governor's emergency order. If it is a permanent fix, you need to work with Jonathan Martinez of the ISC."

Gutierrez noted that in both the Gila and Mimbres, the irrigators want to start irrigating soon. "Are there two crews or one now and one later?"

Romero said the type of work the DOT was doing is different according to the acequia. "In some, we will use heavy equipment and, in some, hand shoveling."

JP Romero said the contractor will mobilize to both Mimbres and Gila. "We want to get with the mayordomos to get to what is most important to get our priorities in place."

A female from the Mimbres asked: "If we use our own equipment, if we don't want to wait eight weeks to get the work done or 8 months for funding, can we be reimbursed?"

"No, you can't get reimbursed," Romero said. "We want to get you up and running as soon as possible."

[Author's note: ASAP is a long time since August 2022!).

Smith asked if they were allowed to know where the crews were coming from.

JP Romero said one crew is from Truth or Consequences and some are local. "We have to make sure the paperwork is done. We will use as many local folks as possible."

Shelley said she would like to know when they planned to meet with the mayordomos of the ditches.

"We have right-of-entry on most of the ditches," JP Romero said. "We would like to have a yard where we can mobilize the heavy equipment at each location, so we have everything in place to start work Monday."

[Author's Note: I didn't write down who answered] the question about ditch owners using their own equipment and whether they coul be reimbursed: "It ties into Homeland Security and the forms to fill out. If you use your own equipment to make repairs, it can be reimbursed through a lot of administrative burden and due diligence in keeping invoices. If the costs are already allocated to repairs, we will try to put them through for full reimbursement."

Gojkovich announced he had the application forms for county allocated funding.

The ditch owners gathered with John and JP Romero at the back of the room during a short break before the next presentation.

JP Romero told the Beat that the DOT is only working on the main ditches, and the owners of the lateral ditches must do their own work.

The following article will complete the morning sessions of the workshop with the presentation by the New Mexico Acequia Association.

For the first article in the series, visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/76794-new-mexico-acequia-disaster-recovery-workshop-022223 .