ALBUQUERQUE – A $450 million drinking water project that was first conceived decades ago has reduced reliance on groundwater for New Mexico’s most populous region by almost 70 percent as the pressures of drought persist.
Utility officials are celebrating as the San Juan-Chama Project has been in operation for 10 years now.
Once thought of as a boondoggle, the project has delivered nearly 137 billion gallons of purified water to Albuquerque and has helped to spur a significant recovery of the aquifer beneath the city.
The project also serves other communities and farmers along the Rio Grande through a system of diversion dams, tunnels and other infrastructure.
Officials say the project has provided a much needed hedge against the demands of a growing population and predictions of drier times.
